The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of being dishonest after a DPP-proposed resolution inviting the Dalai Lama to speak at the legislature passed the Procedure Committee but was put low on the agenda for Friday’s plenary session.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said he suspected KMT lawmakers of purposely placing the item at the bottom of the agenda in the hope it would be scrapped on a technicality.
Tsai said the KMT wanted to appear to welcome the resolution, but did not want the Dalai Lama to visit.
“They want to save face but they also plan to axe the resolution,” he said.
Last week at a meeting with foreign press, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said the timing was not appropriate for a visit from the Nobel Peace laureate and Tibetan spiritual leader. His comment marked a reversal of the support he voiced for the Tibetan movement during his presidential campaign earlier this year, when he also said he hoped the Dalai Lama would come to Taiwan.
Friday’s plenary session has 12 items on the agenda so far, including the Cabinet’s consumer voucher plan and matters related to the Election and Recall Law and public television.
Meanwhile, Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) joined Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) and the DPP in welcoming the Dalai Lama to visit.
“The majority of Taiwanese support [the] Dalai [Lama] visiting. We are studying the possibility of inviting world religious leaders, including [the] Dalai [Lama], to attend an interfaith religious exchange that could be called the ‘religious United Nations,’” he said at a meeting of the county government.
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) also welcomed a visit by the Dalai Lama.
“The Dalai Lama is a courageous and respectful leader as well as a symbol of hope, freedom and human rights in Tibet. He has fought for the freedom of Tibet and raised world awareness and concerns about the difficulties and challenges facing Tibet today. He is a world-respected religious and political leader,” Tsai said in a statement.
“If the Dalai Lama thinks my invitation ... appropriate, it would be a pleasure for me and the DPP to invite him,” the statement said.
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but