New Party convener Hau Lung-bin (
Hau, a legislator and head of the New Party's Central Policymaking Committee, said that though his political stance and ideology were at odds with the DPP's, he would join the Cabinet to prove that the New Party "really loves Taiwan."
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"President Chen Shui-bian (
Hau was invited by Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
"I told the premier and the president that I will not change my political stance on issues such as [Taiwan's] statehood and cross-strait policy, to satisfy the DPP's ideology [on advocating independence]" Hau said.
"I also told them that I will consistently support the continued construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and that I will oppose a plebiscite on the issue ... unless the Legislative Yuan passes a [referendum] law," Hau said.
Hau, whose party is ardently unificationist and has in recent years become little more than a mouthpiece for Beijing, said that the president promised to give him free rein as the new EPA chief.
"The New Party has consistently voiced its concern for Taiwan's environmental protection and now I can realize my party's ideals through this opportunity," Hau said.
Hau was asked to join the Cabinet when the DPP took power in May, but he refused an invitation from then-premier Tang Fei (唐飛).
Hau said previously that if he took over as head of the EPA, he would have to resign as convener within the New Party and give up his seat in the legislature.
Meanwhile, the premier yesterday continued to consult with close advisors and the president to decide a final list of names for the upcoming Cabinet reshuffle.
"The heads of the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) and National Science Council (NSC) will be replaced," said a senior aide to the president, who refused to be named. The source added that Wei Che-he (
"As to whether to nominate a new education minister to succeed Ovid Tzeng (
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats