President William Lai (賴清德) this morning called for transformation and unity at a Lunar New Year tea reception for the heads of all five government branches.
It marked the first time in Taiwan’s history that the heads of all five branches came together for a reception.
Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) joined for the closed-door event at Presidential Office Building in Taipei.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
Also in attendance were Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), Judical Yuan Acting President Shieh Ming-yan (謝銘洋) Examination Yuan President Chou Hung-hsien (周弘憲) and Control Yuan Acting President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞).
After the meeting, Han told reporters that he invited Lai to personally address the legislature on issues to resolve in the next legislative session.
Lai “gladly accepted” and is willing to deliver a state of the nation report at the legislature, Han said.
Questions would be submitted at once and answered all together in Lai’s address, he said, adding that this is a “basic courtesy” that would be respected by the legislature.
Han described today’s reception as a positive example of the government coming together despite political conflict, and hoped it would set a precedent going forward.
Han said he would relay Lai’s intentions to the three political parties to reach a consensus, upon which the Legislative Yuan would issue a formal invitation to the president.
The opposition parties have previously called for Lai to deliver an address to the legislature followed by a question-and-answer session.
However, the Lai administration and Democratic Progressive Party maintain that subjecting the president to questioning by the legislature is unconstitutional and infringes on the balance of power among the branches of government.
The theme of Lai’s speech at today’s meeting was “transformation,” as he called for the ruling and opposition parties to turn major issues into minor ones and to resolve minor issues altogether.
He also called for the government to turn misunderstandings into understandings, division into unity, personal interest into national interest and conflict into peace.
Hopefully the reception would be a first step in enacting these changes, for the sake of the nation, society and the people of Taiwan, Lai said.
The meeting concerned family affairs, state affairs and world affairs, he added.
Lai recalled that last year, he hosted a reception for Han and his delegation before they departed for Washington to attend US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, at which he stressed that in Taiwan, there is no animosity that cannot be put aside.
The government missed many opportunities last year, but as a new year starts, it would take every opportunity to promote unity, especially as Taiwan faces a number of challenges both domestically and internationally, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS