President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration welcomes a debate with opposition leaders on a controversial cross-strait service trade pact with China that has sparked student-led protests and the occupation of government buildings, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference, Jiang said he, Ma and Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) are open to debating the agreement with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), or other key opposition figures.
Asked whether debates would help ease public misgivings and break the standoff, Jiang said the government has never ruled out having a debate to expose the pros and cons of the pact and promote an exchange of ideas among political parties and different sectors of society.
Student-led protesters stormed the legislative chamber late on March 18 to block legislative approval of the pact, after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠) suddenly announced a day earlier that the agreement had passed the committee review stage and would be moved to the legislative plenary session for a vote.
The protesters have been camped out there since then, insisting they will not leave until their demands are met. Protesters occupying the Legislative Yuan have demanded a “civic constitutional meeting,” but Jiang yesterday said he had never heard of the term and was unsure of the nature of such a meeting.
Jiang said the student protesters have been making daily demands for six days, some of which have been later adjusted. He also added that he was not sure whether there have been calls for his resignation.
According to Jiang, administrative staff have been keeping up-to-date with the students’ demands daily.
He said that if the “civic constitutional meeting” is to be about sending back or reviewing the agreement with China, then he “does not fear any scrutiny,” adding that he would be willing to talk about every article in the pact.
Regarding constitutional issues, however, Jiang stated that they are separate topics and that during the past few days of demonstrations, he has yet to hear any requests in that regard.
Jiang said that the government has held national meetings before and knows how to convene similar conferences.
He said that a “civic constitutional meeting” would have to follow a similar procedure to the one used for the National Development Conference, which usually requires a few months of preparation.
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
RSS