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.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Taiwan yesterday issued warnings to four Chinese coast guard vessels that intruded into restricted waters around the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Islands, according to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA). The four China Coast Guard ships were detected approaching restricted waters south of Kinmen at around 2 pm yesterday, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu Branch said in a statement. The CGA said it immediately deployed four patrol boats to closely monitor the situation. When the Chinese ships with the hull numbers "14512," "14609," "14603" and "14602" separately entered the restricted waters off Fuhsing islet (復興嶼), Zhaishan (翟山), Sinhu (新湖) and Liaoluo (料羅) at 3 pm, the Taiwanese patrol
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A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56