Shouting "we are ready for mission impossible," former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) daughter, Annie Lee (李安妮), who was ranked as the first nominee in the Taiwan Solidarity Union's (TSU) nomination list for the elections of National Assembly representatives, yesterday led other female nominees to show their resolution in assisting the country to finalize constitutional reforms.
"I think women are the most competent to undertake the task of constitutional reform that need so much patience and discretion," Lee said yesterday at a news conference where the TSU announced its nomination list for National Assembly representatives, who will be tasked with completing constitutional amendments passed by the legislature in August. Lee stressed that it was her own decision to participate in the elections, not her father's idea.
"I'm already 53 years old. I told my father my decision afterwards. But I don't have to get his permission to do things," Annie Lee said.
Noted for her passion for politics while a member of the then first family, it was her first time in the elections as a candidate. The TSU plans to recommend her for speakership in the National Assembly.
"The nomination list, which comprises 50 candidates selected from all the elites recommended by local party branches, features women's power and the younger generation's energy and professionalism," TSU Secretary-General Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) said.
"Seven of our first 10 nominees are women and over a fifth of the nominee are 30-somethings, which shows the TSU's sincerity in highlighting women's ability and young people's vigor," Chen said.
Chen I-Shen (陳儀深), a research fellow at the Institute of Modern History, is listed as the second nominee. Feminist and novelist Liao Hui-ying (廖輝英) and secretary general of the Northern Taiwan Society Michelle Wang (王美琇), are respectively third and forth. Former TSU legislator Chien Lin Whei-jun (錢林慧君) was ranked as 7th. TSU Chairman Shu Chin-chiang (蘇進強) was listed as 50th. The assured candidates are those who were ranked 20, according to Chen Chien-ming.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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