The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday rejected a suggestion from a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator that it merge with the DPP, saying it only exposed the governing party's rudeness and arrogance. The reaction came after DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊毅) on Sunday suggested the merger as a way for the TSU to cope with an expected new "single-member district, two vote" electoral system that will put small parties at a disadvantage.
"We believe that a merger of the two political parties is a serious issue that concerns the parties' beliefs and ideals," TSU Secretary-General Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) said yesterday at a news conference. "Such a significant issue cannot be proposed by a single lawmaker."
Chen said that Lee's proposal only exposed the overweening attitude of the governing party, and countered that DPP members were welcome to join the TSU.
"To be frank, at this moment it is impossible for the TSU to merge with the DPP," Chen said. "We welcome DPP lawmakers or members who identify with the TSU's platform to join us. We can together work on realizing our goals of making a new constitution and rectifying the country's official name, and help local power to win 75 percent support."
Chen also said that the DPP should demonstrate its sincerity about cooperating with the TSU by speeding up the establishment of a communications channel between the two parties to discuss nominations for the local elections at the end of the year, and avoid the failure of last December's legislative election.
Chen cited his own race for mayor of Keelung as an example of how the parties should be cooperating. He said the DPP should respect his campaign plans and not nominate a candidate to challenge him, because such a move would erode trust between the two parties.
The DPP currently does not intend to nominate its own candidate for that race.
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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A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
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