It is imperative that Taiwan comes up with its own constitution soon, as the ROC Constitution is bizarre and outdated, Lee Hung-hsi (李鴻禧), a constitutional expert, said at a seminar held by Taiwan New Century Foundation yesterday. The aim of the seminar was to outline the process for a new constitution.
"It [the Constitution] deviates from international standards, as it does not clearly state whether our government follows a presidential or a cabinet system, nor does it separate government administration from the legislature," Lee said.
Four distinguished international academics attending the seminar agreed upon a systemic process to establish a new constitution for Taiwan. They said that such a process can only be executed by holding a referendum.
"There is a trend in the international community that a referendum should be held to decide on constitutional amendments. The most basic reason for this trend is that the constitution should come from the people," Chen Lung-chu (
Chen Lung-chu added that the highest constitutional power is citizens' participation, which is also the essence of democracy.
Lee questioned the legality of the current Constitution, saying that the ROC Constitution was not a result of the will of the Taiwanese people, and therefore it should not be applicable to Taiwan.
According to Lee, the ROC Constitution was drafted and passed in China between 1936 and 1947. At that time, Taiwan was under Japanese occupation, so technically Taiwan still belonged to Japan when Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) brought the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to Taiwan in 1949.
"Although former president Lee Teng-hui (
Lee Hung-hsi said the process of promoting a new constitution is only feasible if the president is re-elected next year.
"I have known President Chen since he was young, and it has been his long-term wish to push for a new constitution. Therefore, bringing up this issue so close to the election is definitely not a campaign gimmick," Lee said.
Wu Shuh-min (吳樹民), a national policy advisor to the president, said that the current system of education fails to teach students about Taiwan's political history.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
China has reserved offshore airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts that are usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. The alerts, known as notice to air missions (NOTAMs), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert
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