President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday he would resign immediately if Chinese National-ist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) could provide legal documents proving that his green card had been invalidated years ago.
Chen put his presidency at stake in an interview with Formosa TV last night.
If Ma's green card remains valid, he should give it up by completing all the legal procedures, the president said.
In a televised campaign platform presentation on Friday, Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) also said he was willing to apologize and withdraw from the race if Ma could prove that his green card was invalidated 20 years ago.
Ma's US green card status has been a subject of controversy and attacks by Hsieh's campaign.
When Hsieh first raised the issue in late January, Ma initially responded by saying he did not have a green card, but later conceded that he possessed one in 1977 to help him obtain student loans and employment after graduation. He claimed it was automatically invalidated in 1985 when he applied for a visa to travel to the US.
Hsieh said Ma has yet to provide proof to back his claims, adding that he believed Ma still holds a valid green card because he never completed an I-407 form to relinquish his permanent residency nor has a US immigration court invalidated his card.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious