Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday rebutted Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng’s (王金平) criticism that her choice of team is questionable, saying that many of them worked in the government of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
“My team consists of people from the party headquarters, our think tank, the legislative caucus, and local governments — they come from everywhere; it is a big and strong team,” Tsai said.
“The team does not belong to any individual, it belongs to the nation. I am confident that this strong team can shoulder their responsibilities for the nation,” she said.
Tsai made the remarks in response to Wang’s criticism on Saturday that Tsai’s team is questionable because the public were not satisfied with Chen’s government and many people who worked in the Chen administration are now on Tsai’s team.
“After hearing Wang’s comments, I really would like to ask what happened to ‘Uncle Fairness?’” Tsai said.
DISCUSSIONS
Uncle Fairness, or Gongdaobo, (公道伯) was the nickname given to Wang by his supporters when they created a Facebook page for him earlier in the year, saying he has a good relationship with lawmakers across party lines, and would even hold the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to account.
Tsai also criticized Wang’s proposal to pass amendments for legislative reform in the current legislative session, which is to end in less than two weeks.
“I am not saying that legislative reform is not urgent, but it is such an important issue that it could not be taken care of before the end of this legislative session, as Wang intends to do,” Tsai said.
“A lot of discussions are needed,” she added.
“Why is the KMT — and particularly Wang — in such a rush after the KMT has blocked so many legislative reform proposals raised by the DPP?” Tsai said.
As for KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) accusation that Tsai’s insistence on SET-TV hosting the presidential debate is tantamount to “hiding behind SET-TV,” Tsai said that when KMT Central Standing Committee member Sean Lien (連勝文) ran for Taipei mayor last year, he also took part in a debate hosted by SET-TV, and Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) also agreed to have SET-TV host the debate when she was the party’s presidential nominee in August.
“Would Chu say that they were also ‘hiding behind SET-TV’?” Tsai said.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
MEDICAL: The bills would also upgrade the status of the Ethical Guidelines Governing the Research of Human Embryos and Embryonic Stem Cell Research to law The Executive Yuan yesterday approved two bills to govern regenerative medicine that aim to boost development of the field. Taiwan would reach an important milestone in regenerative medicine development with passage of the regenerative medicine act and the regenerative medicine preparations ordinance, which would allow studies to proceed and treatments to be developed, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) told reporters at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting. Regenerative treatments have been used for several conditions, including cancer — by regenerating blood cells — and restoring joint function in soft tissue, Wang said. The draft legislation requires regenerative treatments
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese