Premier Su Tseng-chang's (
Su made the announcement on Wednesday night at a campaign rally for his bid in the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential primary.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus whip Hsu Shao-ping (徐少萍) said Su shouldn't have disclosed the news before a joint communique was signed by the two countries.
KMT Legislator Kuo Su-chun (
"Su must drop out of the presidential race to take responsibility if the re-establishing of ties fail as a result of China's interference following his announcement,"she said.
In defense of the premier, DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (
Saying that it was difficult for Taiwan to make diplomatic breakthroughs because of China's incessant repression of Taiwan's international space, she added "The news deserves plaudits and unnecessary criticism will only affect morale of hard-working diplomatic staff."
DPP legislative caucus whip Wang Shu-hui (
Vice President Annette Lu (呂
"I am deeply distressed by the fact that somebody takes advantage of such a major national affair and uses it for election gains," she said. "Nobody has the right to reveal the news before the diplomatic ties are formally established."
While foreign affairs does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Executive Yuan, Lu said that Su jumped at the opportunity to take credit.
If anything bad should happen as a result of the premature revelation, Su must be held fully responsible, said Lu, who is also vying for the DPP's nomination for next year's presidential election.
Lu made the remarks in Nantou yesterday afternoon while holding an afternoon chat with reporters.
The Presidential Office yesterday, however, tried to downplay the incident, saying that Su had notified President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in advance and Chen agreed to let Su disclose the news.
The official, who asked to remain anonymous, said it was not a secret that St. Lucia decided on April 23 to resume diplomatic relations with Taiwan because it was reported in the press.
The official said that the position of the Presidential Office on the matter is clear: they recognize the effort made by the Executive Yuan and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
RSS