KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) yesterday offered to visit President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) before Saturday's elections to discuss Chen's proposal to form a "cross-party alliance for national stabilization."
Chen, however, rejected the offer on the grounds that a meeting before the elections would make the event look like a campaign activity. The president reiterated that he would visit Lien immediately after the elections, bringing along a draft proposal for the alliance.
Lien made the offer to visit Chen one day after the president suggested that Lien was the "main obstacle" blocking the alliance's formation and announced that he would visit Lien immediately after the elections for the sake of the nation's political stability and economic development.
Lien said yesterday that the KMT will cooperate if the formation of the alliance is consistent with the Constitution's framework.
Lien argued that it is "crucial" for a meeting to take place before the elections, because he thinks Chen should explain "what the alliance is all about" so the electorate can make a decision based on the explanation.
"You can't expect people to go to the polls just because of the word `stabilization,'" Lien said. "How are people going to cast their votes when they don't know what he has got up his sleeve?"
Lien said he is most concerned about whether the alliance is an organization set up in accordance with the framework of the Constitution or if it is "outside the system."
If it is "outside the system," the president should explain why the Constitution is inadequate to serve as the basis for the formation of the government and the implementation of the central government's policies, according to Lien.
In addition to subjects concerning the alliance, Lien said, another important issue to discuss with Chen would be possible resolutions to Taiwan's economic problems.
Lien said the president would be invited to express his opinions on the 10 major economic policies put forth by the KMT.
"If the president thinks they aren't feasible, we would like to know if he has better measures," Lien said.
He said Chen is "obliged to spend more time explaining his position before election day," as he seems to have so much time to "attack, criticize and tease others," while campaigning for DPP candidates.
When suggesting Lien was the "main obstacle" on Tuesday, Chen, through his aides, cited a string of examples.
Chen said that the KMT had been absent from the inter-party panel on cross-strait relations last year because of Lien's opposition and Chen's plan to appoint KMT Vice Chairman Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) as his envoy to last year's APEC meeting had also been thwarted for the same reason.
Lien also turned down invitations for him to serve as a vice chairman of the Economic Development Advisory Conference in August and to attend a national security meeting held to cope with the possible impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US, according to Chen.
Responding to Chen's allegations yesterday, Lien said Chen himself is the cause of the nation's instability.
Lien urged the president to be true to his word and stop making personal attacks and unfounded accusations against others.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS