The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus criticized Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday for a proposal he made as a legislator for the central bank to issue coins to mark the 100th anniversary of late president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) birth next year.
“There was obviously a political motive behind the proposal,” DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) told a press conference held by the caucus. “This is like restoration [of the Chiang authoritarian era].”
DPP caucus whip Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) said Wu initiated the proposal because he “is good at watching what [his superiors] say and do and knows perfectly well how to survive in [Taiwanese] politics and that his master Ma [Ying-jeou (馬英九)] treats Chiang as his own father.”
Wu proposed in April that the bank should issue NT$10 coins featuring Chiang by next year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Chiang’s birth. His proposal was backed by 61 KMT lawmakers.
Chiang was born on April 27, 1910, and passed away on Jan. 13, 1988.
The NT$10 coins currently bear a portrait of Chiang Ching-kuo’s father, former dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).
Chai said he might suggest the bank withdraw coins with Chiang Kai-shek’s likeness.
KMT legislators, however, had mixed reactions yesterday about the idea of a commemorative coin.
KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) said that it would be acceptable to issue the coins as long as the public had formed a consensus first.
But KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said it would be meaningless to manipulate the nation’s currency for political purposes.
“We can also put Yushan or Alishan on the coins,” she said.
“I do not support the worshiping of specific political symbols,” KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) said.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
RSS