Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said the KMT would welcome a meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) when asked about yesterday morning’s meeting between Tsai and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜).
Tsai met with Soong, saying that the meeting was aimed at soliciting advice from other parties about national affairs and facilitating positive interactions between the future governing party and opposition parties.
Chiang said that changes could be seen every day in politics, which shows that the old saying about the immovability of the traditional “blue and green plates” is not accurate.
“The KMT should pay extra attention to [the shifting political scene], rather than taking voters’ political affiliations for granted, Chiang said.
Multiparty development is good for Taiwan’s democracy, for which cooperation between parties could be a driving force, he said. “The KMT would certainly respect cooperation between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the PFP, if it would be of great advantage to the nation and the people, but we would hope that there is also room for cooperation between the KMT and those parties.”
Chiang said the KMT worked with the PFP in elections for legislative committee conveners that took place last week, “as parties compete and cooperate in different fields and on different issues.”
Chiang said that the KMT would welcome a meeting between Ma and Tsai, adding that he hoped Tsai would keep an open attitude to meeting with opposition party leaders to improve the nation.
When asked about a possible meeting with Ma, Tsai said: “President Ma is about to make a visit [to Latin America]; we will contact him after he returns and arrange a meeting with him at an appropriate time.”
Ma said of the potential event: “We will try to arrange such a meeting.”
Ma is to visit Guatemala and Belize, two of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in Central America, from Sunday through Saturday next week.
Separately, New Power Party Secretary-General Chen Hui-min (陳惠敏) said that DPP officials called NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) two days earlier about the possibility of setting up a meeting.
The New Power Party was “open” to such a meeting, but there had not been any discussion over a time or what would be discussed, Chen said.
Additional reporting by Abraham Gerber
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of