Presidential Office Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday met with members of the People First Party (PFP) to hear their opinions on President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) proposal to invite the leaders of minority parties to discuss changes to the Constitution, including the possibility of transitioning to a true presidential system.
Wu met in the morning with PFP deputy secretaries-general Ma Chieh-ming (馬傑明) and Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞), following similar talks with the New Power Party (NPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Tuesday.
The PFP later said in a statement that the three exchanged ideas about possible topics for the cross-party leaders’ reform meeting, but added that it would wait until other minority parties provide their input before topics are finalized.
According to the statement, Wu conveyed Tsai’s gratitude to PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) for his support of the proposed meeting, while Ma and Lee quoted Soong as saying he would be open-minded and determined for the meeting and as Tsai’s envoy to the APEC summit in Da Nang, Vietnam.
Soong intends to “put aside party politics and do his utmost for the sake of the nation and its people,” the statement added.
The idea of a cross-party leaders’ meeting convened by the president was first proposed by the PFP, Lee said, adding that it was happy to see Tsai act on the idea and that such a meeting should reflect the state of the nation’s internal and foreign affairs, economy and cross-strait relations.
On Tuesday, Presidential Office spokesman Sidney Lin (林鶴明) said that Wu met with NPP Secretary-General Chen Hui-min (陳惠敏), who assured Wu that his party would do its best to coordinate on the meeting.
KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Lee Ming-hsien (李明賢) confirmed that Wu spoke with KMT Vice Chairman Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) by telephone on Tuesday, saying that KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) has been informed about the proposed meeting.
“We are all in the same boat... The Presidential Office is working hard to communicate with all party caucuses and leaders,” Lee Hung-chun said. “If we can all find common ground and eliminate problems, it will be a good thing.”
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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