Adopting a format used by presidents to address the National Assembly would be acceptable for President Chen Shui-bian's (
Chang said a demand by the People First Party (PFP) that Chen debate PFP Chairman James Soong (
Chen on Sunday proposed making a special report to the legislature on issues such as arms procurement, Taiwan's UN bid and cross-strait affairs. Such a speech would require an invitation by the legislature.
Chang made the remarks as the DPP yesterday launched a three-day campaign trip for the legislative elections.
Starting from Kaohsiung, high-ranking party officials and nominees for legislator-at-large boarded trains to start a journey that will take them on a vote-canvassing trip from south to north.
Chang and former chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council Tsai Ing-wen (
"The DPP will not set any assumptions or conditions for the format of the president's special report, as long as it is constitutional," Chang said. Adopting the format used by former president Lee Tung-hui (
Chang, who has essentially secured his legislative spot as he is fourth on the DPP's list of legislator-at-large candidates, yesterday also showed an ambition to contend for the office of the legislative speaker.
Chang said the DPP was disappointed in the performance of current Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) as Wang had failed to implement legislative reforms in the past three years.
Chang noted the DPP had not nominated a candidate for legislative speaker three years ago after the last legislative elections and had unanimously voted for Wang to head the legislature.
"However, Wang's performances in the legislature over the past three years has fallen far below our expectations," Chang said. "The Legislative Yuan did not conduct reforms as people expected, and instead caused chaotic legislative sessions."
Chang said the DPP would first achieve the goal of winning over 50 percent of seats in the year-end elections and then target the seat of legislative speaker.
"Since the DPP achieved mission impossible with President Chen's re-election, we will keep heading toward our next goal of dominating and steering the legislature," Chang said.
DPP Information and Culture Department director Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said the DPP will hold a series of rallies in 27 electoral districts from next month.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
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