The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) today said it does not support martial law, after its caucus’ social media post last night comparing the situation in Taiwan’s legislature to South Korea stirred controversy.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol late last night announced martial law, but rescinded the order after the National Assembly voted unanimously to reject his declaration.
After the order was made, the DPP caucus posted on Threads saying that the party supported Yoon’s fight against the North Korean threat.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
"The South Korean parliament has been manipulated by North Korean forces," said the post by "lydppcaucus," an account run by the party's caucus.
"South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol announced emergency martial law nationwide to protect the free constitutional system," the post said. "Have no doubt, we who are Team Taiwan are every second and every minute opposing global dark and evil forces encroaching on [Taiwan].”
The post also suggested that opposition parties had repeatedly obstructed national security proposals, "unconstitutionally expanded" their powers and cut the defense budget, among other claims.
This post was deleted after 20 minutes, after which the DPP said in another post that it was an attempt to “share international information.”
The party had no intention of supporting martial law, it said, adding that opposition lawmakers should stop exaggerating their claims.
"The DPP was a political party established during [Taiwan's] Martial Law period," the post said. "It deeply knows the harm that martial law has done to democratic societies."
In a post on Facebook, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) accused the DPP of exploiting an international crisis, supporting martial law and smearing the opposition.
The DPP took advantage of South Korea’s suffering to discredit opposition parties’ normal legislative actions in reviewing the budget and passing amendments, it said, calling on President William Lai (賴總統) to apologize.
The KMT also asked for the government to focus on ensuring the safety of Taiwanese in South Korea, including assessing the need for evacuation if necessary.
The DPP in a statement this morning said that Taiwan’s more than three-decade Martial Law era was imposed by the KMT.
The DPP was formed in opposition to martial law and has no intention of ever supporting it, it said.
DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) told reporters it would be inappropriate to comment too much on other nations’ internal affairs and start unnecessary conflicts.
However, the caucus would review its social media policies to prevent further issues and potential accusations from the KMT, she added.
Additional reporting by Lee Wen-hsin
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS