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.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
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