Bowing to mounting pressure, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairmanship candidate and former senior presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) yesterday apologized to women for disrespectful remarks he made on Tuesday.
“I would like to offer my sincere apology to all women in this country,” he said.
Referring to former vice premier Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the only female contender in the election scheduled for May 18, Koo said that the party’s current problems should be dealt with by men and questioned the suitability of letting a “single woman” take care of them.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
It was not the first time Koo has made controversial remarks about women. In March last year, Koo insinuated that Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) was not suitable to run in the DPP’s presidential primary, saying “someone in a skirt would not make a good commander-in-chief.”
Lu yesterday dismissed Koo’s remark as coming from “someone living in the Stone Age who is not fit for the 21st century.”
Tsai yesterday remained low-key, saying that she could understand why the 82-year-old Koo would make such remarks.
“He is an elder and he already apologized,” Tsai said.
The other contender Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) said that Koo’s remarks were inappropriate and “didn’t sound good.”
He emphasized that all people are equal under the Constitution and that the times are different.
Earlier yesterday, several women’s rights groups condemned Koo.
At a press conference at the legislature, Taiwan Women’s Link (TWL) secretary-general Tsai Wan-fen (蔡宛芬) said the groups did not rule out launching a campaign to call on female DPP members to quit the party should Koo be elected chairman.
Tsai Wan-fen said Koo’s repetition of discriminatory comments had harmed the DPP’s image, adding that the DPP should change its name to “Democratic Regressive Party.”
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
Also See: EDITORIAL: When an apology isn't enough
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS