A power struggle between Vice President Annette Lu (
At around 7pm yesterday, the Presidential Office issued a short press release saying that Lu intended to resign as the DPP's acting chairperson, since "she does not want to be a sacrificial offering in the struggle between factions." Lu became the DPP's acting chairperson just last Wednesday.
Meanwhile, according to DPP officials and lawmakers, Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun has been persuaded to run for his party's chairmanship to help stabilize the president's hold on power.
Lu yesterday canceled her meeting with DPP officials, purportedly because of a recurring eye condition. Some media reports have speculated that the cancelation was a result of Chen's displeasure with Lu's aggressive approach to party affairs since she took over the office from former DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang (
Too active?
On Saturday, Lu said that she was "watching the DPP on behalf of President Chen" when she inspected the troubled construction site for the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit System. According to a report in the Liberty Times, Chen, who has struggled over the past week to keep different factions in the DPP balanced and avoid becoming a lame duck after the election result, was displeased with Lu's remarks and criticized her for going "too far" in her remarks in Kaohsiung.
Chen reportedly expressed discontent over Lu's hard-charging manner. Lu's recent activities, including inspecting the site in Kaohsiung and planning a meeting on party reform, has led to criticism that she was too obviously trying to position herself as a candidate for the 2008 presidential election.
Local Chinese-language news-papers said Chen had criticized Lu for "taking advantage of others' intrigues."
Chen did not respond yesterday to such reports describing tension between him and Lu, but did cancel his regular Monday meeting with her.
Lu has suggested punishment for DPP Legislator Peter Lin (林進興) over his involvement in questioning Taichung Mayor Jason Hu's health and releasing Hu's medical records during the election campaign.
Lu also proposed holding a large-scale conference on party reform while dining with DPP lawmakers and members of the party's central standing committee on Sunday.
However, many of the participants dissuaded Lu from holding that conference before a new chairperson is elected, and noted that the acting chairperson's primary job is to organize an election for the next party chairman.
Although Lu has said she has no intention of campaigning for the DPP chairmanship, DPP Legislator Lin Cho-shui (
"Vice President Lu's aggressive moves will bother the new chairperson if she is not the new DPP leader," Lin Cho-shui said yesterday.
Strong candidate
A high-ranking official who was one of Yu's staff members when he served as the premier said on condition of anonymity that Yu is now planning to join in the election for the DPP chairmanship because many different factions voiced support for him running against Lu.
The official said that Yu gets along well with Chen and is more "trustworthy" from the president's perspective. Yu is also a candidate who is accepted by the DPP's two main factions, the New Tide (
"President Chen has good communication with Yu and I think Yu might be a candidate who can coordinate the government and the party to be more consistent in policy," DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (
also see story:
DPP lawmakers differ on alleged Chen-Lu dispute
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session yesterday while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival- threatening
RSS