The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said that its roadshow featuring Cabinet members addressing opposition-imposed budget cuts should not be confused with campaigning to recall opposition lawmakers.
At a news conference in Taipei announcing the roadshow, which starts tomorrow, DPP Secretary-General Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said that the tour was not to push the recall campaigns against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, which had emerged swiftly over the past few weeks.
“[I] urge the public to not confuse the two events,” Lin said, adding that the roadshow and the recall campaigns were “not directly related.”
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The DPP is building “a large platform for society” and “welcomes everyone to come and listen to speeches,” Lin said.
While Lin sought to draw a line between the party’s initiative and the recall movement, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) told reporters on Wednesday that the two events were “complementary.”
Lin said President William Lai (賴清德), who also serves as DPP chairman, would not appear in any of the speaking events.
The tour is to begin in Taichung tomorrow.
Over the next two weeks, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said he and Cabinet officials would directly report to the public about how they would be impacted by government budget freezes and cuts.
At a separate news conference, Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the premier would be an “invitee” to the DPP’s events and that no government funds would be used in his involvement in the tour.
The government maintains that the budget cuts and freezes ordered by the opposition-controlled legislature have affected the normal operations of government agencies.
The legislature has cut about NT$207.6 billion (US$6.3 billion) in funding and frozen an additional NT$183.1 billion of the Executive Yuan’s proposed NT$3.1 trillion budget.
Shortly after the DPP’s announcement, the KMT said it was also planning to launch a speech event next month to highlight the party’s efforts in promoting measures that benefit the livelihood and welfare of the public.
The event would also focus on reporting on the incompetence of the DPP government, KMT spokesperson Crystal Yang (楊智?) told reporters yesterday.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
RSS