DPP lawmakers yesterday proposed to penalize PFP Legislators Diane Lee (
Lawmakers from the pan-green camp have turned out in force to defend Twu, saying both of the PFP lawmakers deserved to be chastised for launching accusations before getting any verification of the story.
The scandal began with Lee accusing Twu of forcibly kissing restaurant proprietor Cheng Ko-jung (
After the story broke, Yang said a cleaning lady claimed to have witnessed Twu having sexual relations with female colleagues at the office, but provided no evidence.
When asked by the media later on, Yang back-peddled, saying the accusations were "based on hearsay."
DPP Legislator Chiu Yung-jen (
What makes the matter worse, he added, is that Yang is not remorseful for her irresponsible conduct, which has made the entire legislature suffer from the shame.
DPP Legislator Peter Lin (林進興) said that by initiating the motion, he would like to raise a warning: That is, he wants to warn lawmakers that they must not make reckless accusations and point fingers before solid evidence is found.
Lin said the proposal will be passed at the procedural committee today, and will be handed into the discipline committee for further review.
Despite of the apologies by Lee and Cheng, Twu has decided to file a lawsuit against the two accusers as well as media outlets that had failed to report impartially during the incident.
Disagreeing with part of the public opinions, which called upon Twu to show mercy on the two and withdraw the case, DPP Legislators Julian Kuo (
They argued it would be helpful to society if Twu called off the case, only if he insisted the trial would teach people to realize the importance to discipline their freedom of speech.
TSU lawmakers yesterday reached an agreement to initiate the proposals to limit lawmakers' powers of immunity and to halve their salaries.
TSU legislators said the public is fed up with lawmakers abusing their freedom of speech.
That's why the party feels the urgency to reduce the number of legislators. The party also wants to cut legislators' paychecks in half to prevent more social resources from being wasted by lawmakers.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
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