The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday demanded that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) “reveal her stance” on the abolition of the death penalty, which is supported by candidates of the New Power Party (NPP), which the DPP endorses.
KMT Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏), KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) and KMT Taipei City Councilor Wang Hong-wei (王鴻薇) criticized NPP legislative candidate Freddy Lim (林昶佐) over his burning of a Republic of China flag, and calls for the legalization of marijuana and the abolition of capital punishment.
The KMT officials asked whether Tsai endorses Lim’s actions and beliefs.
“NPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), Lim and Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸), the party’s district legislative candidates, are all for the abolition of capital punishment. Chairperson Tsai, do you support their stance?” Wang Hong-wei asked. “It is a question that should not be shunned.”
“There have been small, innocent children murdered in Taipei. Do we still want the death penalty to be abolished?” Alicia Wang asked.
“Seeing lives being taken and society plunged into fear by people like Cheng Chieh (鄭捷), do we still want to do away with capital punishment?” she asked.
Cheng attacked passengers on Taipei’s Mass Rapid Transit system on May 21, 2014, killing four people and injuring 22 on the Bannan Line.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
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