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.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS