The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) highest decision-making body yesterday agreed unanimously to urge President Chen Shui-bian (
"We reached the resolution because we all agreed confidentiality, which includes national security, should be safeguarded," DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun told a news conference after the party's weekly Central Standing Committee meeting yesterday.
A proposal was put forward by DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) during the meeting in opposition to the Taipei District Court's decision to open documents related to secret diplomatic missions in the "state affairs fund" case on Tuesday.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
Earlier yesterday, Ker told a separate press conference that the caucus believed prosecutors and the court had come together on the case "to the extent that they were staging a `soft judicial coup.'"
The district court was in "asymmetric opposition" to the Constitution, which was likely to give rise to a crisis on a constitutional and national security level, he said.
"We strongly suggest the president file a constitutional interpretation application ... the president should not dodge his responsibility," Ker said. "This event concerns national security, not the president's honor. [The president] should not worry about any outside opinions, either."
The caucus also urged the president to ask the Council of Grand Justices to reach a ruling as soon as possible once the president had filed for an interpretation.
DPP Legislator Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢), who was at the news conference, said judicial power should play a "defensive" and "passive" role under the government structure which separates executive, legislative and judicial power.
He said the district court's ruling and prosecutors' attitude toward the case were damaging the balance between the three branches and might lead to a constitutional crisis.
A pro-independence political pressure group yesterday held a separate news conference, urging the president, the head of the Judicial Yuan and the Taipei District Court to seek constitutional interpretations from the Council of Grand Justices to settle the dispute over the case.
The Northern Taiwan Society also launched an online signature drive yesterday to support their cause.
"The move is not for the president, but for the country's democratic development," said society chairman Wu Shuh-min (吳樹民).
Alleging that the "state affairs fund" case contained 10 "serious flaws," Chet Yang (楊文嘉), the society's secretary-general, said the nature of the case was not an act of corruption, but "an extraordinary case resulting from the need for secret diplomatic missions, unhealthy budget and auditing systems and executive practices established during the authoritarian era."
As any judicial inquiry concerning the president is unconstitutional, the court hearing is bound to be biased and any result will mean a miscarriage of justice and lead to the collapse of the judicial system, he said.
Yang criticized the court and prosecutors for their "near sickly and stubborn" rejection of "executive privilege," the "state secrets privilege" enjoyed by the president and for adopting a suppressive approach,as used in a feudal society, to hear the case and keep the defense lawyers in line.
"This is a battle between `Taiwanese lawyers' and `Chinese judges,'" Yang said. "This unprecedented case is a wake-up call for the direction of judicial reform and the Taiwanese people's resolve to forge ahead with it."
In a bid to leave a legacy of legal precedent and a sound system, Yang said that it is not only within the president's power, but also his duty to ask the council to settle the dispute.
Yang also urged Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生) to seek a constitutional interpretation from the council to "resolve the constitutional crisis and any subsequent chain reaction."
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as