President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should clarify his duties as president, sack his premier and abandon economic policies that ignore China’s military threat, a group of academics said yesterday.
The Taipei Society, a civic group perceived as pro-independence, challenged the president over his performance on the economy, national sovereignty and human rights since taking office in May.
The group also presented several suggestions to the Ma administration.
Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華), a senior member of the group and a sociology professor at National Chengchi University, expressed concern that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was leading the nation back to a “party-state” government.
The KMT was straying from the principles of democracy since winning both the presidential and legislative elections earlier this year, Ku said.
Ku urged Ma and the KMT to establish a mechanism to guarantee responsible politics with the public’s interests in mind.
“Judging from the legislature’s performance in recent months, the KMT failed to take advantage of its majority in the legislature to pass laws that would benefit the public,” Ku told a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
In addition to stalling sunshine laws, the KMT allowed the four agreements on cross-strait sea transport, flights and postal services as well as food safety signed by the Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) to escape a legislative vote, he said.
The agreements took effect by default after the deadline for a legislative review passed.
“The KMT is abandoning its duties and obligations in the legislature, and this is a violation of constitutional politics ... If the Ma administration and the KMT continues to abuse power, the party may suffer in the upcoming elections,” he said.
Academia Sinica research fellow Chiu Hei-yuan (瞿海源) said that Ma had failed to clarify his duties as president, had interfered with the Cabinet’s decision-making process and had failed to establish a full advisory mechanism to hear differing opinions on important issues.
Another executive member of the group, Lu Shih-hsiang (盧世祥) said Ma’s policies would make the nation’s economy too dependent on China, which flatly ignored the military threat posed by Taiwan’s rival across the Strait.
The group also said Ma had failed to stand up for freedom of assembly during the protests against ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) in October.
In addition, his rejection of a proposed visit by the Dalai Lama had hurt the nation’s human rights image, they said.
The president should replace Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), the group said, and allow his replacement to form a new Cabinet, abandon pro-China policies and ensure that the government does not interfere in the media.
It also called for a meeting between Ma and Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to push for social and political reconciliation.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS