President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday instructed the Executive Yuan to fully cooperate with the Special Investigation Panel (SIP) in the investigation of the “319” assassination attempt.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said Ma made the request during a weekly luncheon with Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) at the Presidential Office.
Wang said that when the Democratic Progressive Party was in power, the Executive Yuan refused to cooperate with the truth investigation committee. As the SIP has reopened the case, Wang said, Ma hoped the executive branch would inject money and manpower and offer any necessary assistance.
The 319 shooting incident refers to an assassination attempt against former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) in Tainan on March 19, 2004, one day before the presidential election.
One bullet grazed Chen’s stomach and another hit Lu in the knee. Authorities later identified the shooter as Chen Yi-hsiung (陳義雄), who was found dead 10 days after the incident. The pan-blue camp at the time said that the shooting incident was staged. The case was closed by the Tainan Public Prosecutor’s Office in 2005.
In related news, Ma yesterday said he hoped to see the legislature pass amendments to the Local Government Act (地方制度法) by the middle of next month.
Wang said that the Presidential Office, Executive Yuan, Legislative Yuan and KMT came to a consensus on the speedy passage of the legal revisions at yesterday’s meeting.
While Taichung county and city as well as Kaohsiung county and city have made efforts to integrate and upgrade the administrative status of the merged regions, Wang said the proposed amendments were not custom-written for any county or city.
“The Executive Yuan will handle the matter fairly and legally,” Wang said.
Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) said he hoped to see the merger of Kaohsiung county and city happen in tandem with that of Taichung county and city next year.
Ma also said he wanted to see the legislature pass amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) that would lead to the prosecution of civil servants who could not identify the sources of their assets.
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
RSS