The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration should reflect on whether its policies are in line with public opinion, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, a day after its party swept all three seats in legislative by-elections in Taoyuan, Taichung and Taitung counties.
During a visit to Yunlin County, Tsai said the by-election wins were not a victory for the DPP but rather the voters giving Taiwan’s democracy justice.
She said the results would strengthened the public’s confidence in Taiwan’s democratic development, while giving the KMT an opportunity to reflect on and examine whether its policies have gone awry and are out of line with the views of Taiwanese.
The year-end elections for mayors of five special municipalities will be even more crucial for the DPP, and the party will go all out to win, Tsai said.
The DPP will hold a provisional national convention on Jan. 24 to form rules and processes for nominating the party’s candidates in the five special municipality races, she said, adding that everything related to the nominating process has gone according to schedule.
The issue was open to discussion but hopes party members would desist from too much speculation in order to avoid unnecessary disputes, she said. The party should focus its efforts on four legislative by-elections scheduled for Feb. 27 in Hualien, Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Chiayi counties, she said.
Tsai said she would make good use of the party’s 30 legislative seats to fully carry out the party’s opposition role as a check on the power of the ruling KMT.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard