Tomorrow’s opposition leaders meeting with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) would be livestreamed for the public, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said today as he called on President William Lai (賴清德) to join the meeting.
Huang and Chu would meet tomorrow to discuss how to “return democracy to Taiwan” and other concerns like US tariffs.
Lai has been invited, Huang said, adding that the president’s participation in the meeting would be a “blessing” for the country as now is the time for the three major political parties to meet.
Photo: Taipei Times
Lai has had since the Lunar New Year to prepare for the impact of US tariffs, but has instead focused on his own political agenda, Huang said.
He said he reached out to Lai after US President Donald Trump’s announced tariffs at the start of this month, but did not receive a goodwill response.
With regards to allegations of forged signatures in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, Chu has critiqued the prosecutors’ investigation and has called on supporters to demonstrate this Saturday on Taipei’s Ketagalan Boulevard.
When asked about Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) suggestion that the Legislative Yuan dismiss the Cabinet through a no-confidence vote and hold new legislative elections, Huang disagreed with the idea.
The person who is at fault for the ongoing political situation is Lai, Huang said, and neither a dissolved cabinet nor new legislative elections would change that situation.
Lai should resign and a new general election be held, Huang added.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said the ruling and opposition parties should come to a consensus, end the mass recalls, stabilize the political situation and focus on global challenges.
The public does not wish to see ongoing fighting between the political parties, Hou said, and Taiwan's politics should return to normalcy for the benefit of everyone.
The DPP and Lai should be more tolerant, respectful and willing to communicate, Hou added.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
RSS