Senior Taiwanese independence campaigners yesterday announced that they are establishing the Taiwan Independence Action Party (TIAP), saying that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been diverted from the independence movement.
Led by political commentator Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒), former presidential advisers Peng Ming-min (彭明敏) and Wu Li-pei (吳澧培), and former Presidential Office secretary-general Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟), the group delivered its application to register a new political party to the Ministry of the Interior.
Its objective is to get politicians supporting independence into the Legislative Yuan.
Photo: Li Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
“We have filed the application to register a new party to the ministry with a petition of 30 people,” Chin told reporters in Taipei. “We are talking to some people about running for legislator on the TIAP ticket and we plan to nominate people for regional representation.”
“As for president, we will support [DPP Chairperson] Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), as her political ideologies are close to ours,” he added.
Chin said that under pressure from the US and China, the DPP has avoided talking about independence, with Tsai emphasizing maintaining the “status quo” under the Republic of China Constitution, while Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential hopeful Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) has been talking about “one China, same interpretation.”
“This shows that the DPP has given up on independence — and the biggest problem facing the DPP is that most people are eyeing only the interests of themselves and their affiliated factions in the party,” Chin said. “Recent opinion polls show that as many as 70 or 80 percent of the public identify themselves as Taiwanese, so we are joining the legislative bid to attract support from independentists.”
While saying that the group would not take the initiative to negotiate with the DPP, Chin said that the TIAP would keep its doors open if the DPP would like to talk about cross-party collaborations.
Chin said that his group is in touch with the Free Taiwan Party (FTP), a pro-independence party founded by Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan convener Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴) and might cooperate with the group, as independence is the ultimate objective for both parties.
DPP spokesperson Juan Chao-hsiung (阮昭雄) said that the DPP would respect different opinions in the nation.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
TRANSPORT DISRUPTION: More than 100 ferry services were suspended due to rough seas and strong winds, and eight domestic flights were canceled, the ministry said Tropical Storm Wipha intensified slightly yesterday as it passed closest to Taiwan, dumping more than 200mm of rain in Hualien and Taitung counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 11am, Wipha was about 210km southwest of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and was moving west-northwest at 27km per hour (kph). The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 101kph and gusts reaching 126kph, with a 150km radius of strong winds, CWA data showed. Wipha’s outer rainbands began sweeping across Taiwan early yesterday, delivering steady rainfall in the east and scattered showers in other regions, forecasters said. More heavy rain was expected, especially in the eastern
RSS