The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) is facing yet another challenge as Taipei City Councilor Chen Chien-ming (
Chen must obtain the support of a quarter of the party's 150 national representatives to make his proposal valid. He broached the subject at the party's Central Executive Committee meeting, but received a lukewarm response.
Chen Yung-hsing (
"We consider it necessary, however, to clarify any misunderstanding regarding TSU Legislator Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛)," he said, adding they had suggested Lai take legal action if necessary.
Former TSU Legislator David Huang (黃適卓) had demanded that the party expel Lai and nullify her candidacy for legislator-at-large, alleging that Lai was associated with members of the "red-shirt army."
The "red-shirt army" refers to members of a campaign organized last year to depose President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) amid corruption allegations against him, his wife and his closest aides.
TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (
The party's policy proposals have never deviated from the party line since, he said.
In related news, three TSU legislators yesterday asked the DPP to extend a goodwill gesture by Friday and let opinion polls decide who should represent the pan-green camp in their respective constituencies in the legislative elections in January.
The TSU plans to nominate 17 district legislative candidates to compete for the 79 slots.
Huang Kun-huei said that the party was willing to drop the nomination of Huang Chao-chan (
Huang Kun-huei, however, criticized the DPP for luring TSU members to join its ranks, including TSU Legislator Ho Min-hao (
Meanwhile, DPP Culture and Information Department Director Hsieh Hsin-ni (
The TSU also ran a half-page advertisement in yesterday's Chinese-language United Daily News, urging former TSU Legislator Liao Pen-yen (
Chen Chien-ming said it was inappropriate for the TSU to place such an ad.
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the