Premier Frank Hsieh (
Despite the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)'s failure to vote out Wang Jin-pyng (
"I will not try to contact any individual from the opposition parties without going through the parties' headquarters first, out of respect," Hsieh said when the media asked him whether he was still looking for a vice premier from the opposition camp.
"Since the opposition parties have claimed that none of their members can become Cabinet officials without the parties' consent first, if I want to find someone from the opposition party, I will have to reopen the door for cross-party negotiations, or I will visit the chairmen of the opposition parties [to talk about the matter]," Hsieh said.
When asked about whether he had a candidate in mind, Hsieh said that as long as the candidate he asked considered himself to be suitable, then that candidate would be an appropriate choice.
"But right now I want to wait a few more days before settling on anyone," Hsieh said.
Hsieh made the statement right after he attended the Taiwan Solidarity Union inauguration ceremony for caucus whips at the Legislative Yuan, which took place after Wang was reelected speaker.
The TSU ceremony was also the first public meeting of the premier and new speaker.
According to a top KMT official, Hsieh was still keen to ask Chiang to become vice premier, and Chiang was also interested in the position.
The KMT has said that no KMT member can become a Cabinet official without the party's consent. Hsieh therefore asked Wang in private yesterday to help him persuade the KMT party headquarters to let Chiang take the appointment, according to the same official.
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
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