Former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) lamented yesterday the loss of former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Lu Hsiu-yi (盧修一), who he described as selfless and kind.
Su made the remarks after attending the 10th anniversary of Lu’s death in Taipei yesterday afternoon.
On the eve of the Taipei County commissioner race in 1997, Lu kneeled on stage, despite being ill, to solicit votes for Su, the DPP candidate for the post. Su later won the election.
Emphasizing his debt to Lu, Su said he felt Lu had been with him over the past decade and that the reason Lu was still well remembered and respected was because he was an individual who was sincere, straightforward and vivacious.
During an era when the legislative chamber was under the control of legislators who had not had to face the electorate for decades, the DPP was united then, Su said.
“He was willing to forsake his dream of running for the top job in Taipei County and help me with my bid. There is no comparison between what he did for me and what other politicians would do,” Su said. “He did not do it for himself, he did it for his friend, for Taipei County and for the party.”
Su said he was ashamed and distraught after seeing the party lose in several elections and party members engage in fierce infighting.
“The party should feel embarrassed for losing that spirit,” Su said. “I wish there were more people like Lu to make his beloved Taiwan a better place.”
The latest Papua New Guinea fund scandal has delivered a significant blow to the DPP’s popularity.
Su yesterday opposed calls for President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to bear responsibility for the scandal, urging prosecutors to uncover the truth to prevent the public from being misled by “crooks.”
“I don’t think the head of state knows every detail of the plan and how it was executed,” Su said. “It is not right to hold the president responsible or ask him to step down, unless he is found to be guilty of corruption.”
Su said the country’s diplomatic situation was in dire straits and there were many problems that few people could understand — except for those who are actually involved.
He said he believed former vice premier Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) and former minister of foreign affairs James Huang (黃志芳) did not pocket any money and that he hoped the truth will come out soon and clear the names of the innocent.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS