President Chen Shui-bian (
Two months after he first floated the idea of a new constitution at the 17th anniversary of his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Chen made clear that he regarded amending the current Constitution, which has already undergone six sets of amendments, as a waste of time and that a new constitution should be created and put before the public in a referendum on Dec. 10, 2006, which is also International Human Rights Day.
Chen made the statements yesterday while receiving a group of American academics invited to participate in today's international conference on Democracy, Nationalism and Security in the Asia Pacific jointly sponsored by Taiwan's Institute for National Policy Research and The Brookings Institution in the US.
The American academics attending yesterday's reception at the Presidential Office included John Thornton, chairman of the Executive Committee of the Brookings Institution; Richard Bush, former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan; Strobe Talbott, former US deputy secretary of state; and James Steinberg, former deputy national security adviser.
Chen told his visitors that the current Constitution, which was promulgated in 1946 and put into effect in 1947, does not suit the needs of the 23 million Taiwanese people.
"Almost two-thirds of the articles of the ROC Constitution need to be amended, including the complete rewriting of nearly half of these articles. Such an undertaking is beyond the range of simply rewriting, it requires a complete construction of a new constitution," he said.
"The previous six sets of constitutional amendments were fragmentary and many problems remained unresolved. The construction of the new constitution is aimed to thoroughly solve the remaining problems once and for all, as the Taiwanese people will have to decide the content of the new constitution through a referendum in 2006," Chen said.
He said that if the new constitution is approved in December 2006, it would be enacted on May 20, 2008, the inauguration day for the winner of that year's presidential election.
Chen said that his characterization of Taiwan and China being "one country on each side" of the Taiwan Strait, the promotion of national referendums and the new constitution were all part of the nation's democratization process and would not contradict the "five noes" pledge he made in his inauguration speech in 2000. Therefore, he said, these issues could not be regarded as part of the dispute over Taiwan's independence or unification with China.
The president also said that as the US is one of Taiwan's most important allies, his promotion of these democratic ideals and constitutional reforms would not affect or undermine US interests.
Taiwan's top representative to the US, Chen Chien-jen (
He added that although the US government was concerned about referendums to decide Taiwan's independence or unification, Chen's "five noes" promise was accepted by the US government.
Meanwhile, the DPP continued the process of nominating Chen to be the party's candidate in next year's presidential election.
At the DPP's Central Executive Committee meeting yesterday, Chen received unanimous support from the DPP headquarters for his candidacy.
Chen is expected to be officially nominated by the committee on Dec. 10. He will announce his running mate on Dec. 13 during the DPP's annual national congress.
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
BAIL APPEALS: The former vice premier was ordered to be held incommunicado despite twice being granted bail and paying a total of NT$12 million in bond The Taoyuan District Court yesterday ordered the detention of former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is being investigated for alleged corruption while serving as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022, and that he be held incommunicado. The court made the ruling during a bail hearing after prosecutors appealed its bail ruling twice. Cheng on Saturday was released after posting bail of NT$5 million (US$153,818). However, after prosecutors lodged an appeal, the High Court on Monday revoked the original ruling and ordered the Taoyuan District Court to hold another bail hearing. On Tuesday, the district court granted bail to Cheng a second
PEACE AND SECURITY: China’s military ambitions present ‘the greatest strategic challenge to Japan and the world, Japan’s annual defense white paper said yesterday Japan yesterday warned that China risked escalating tensions with Taiwan with an increase in military exercises that appeared aimed in part at readying Beijing’s forces for a possible invasion. Japan’s annual assessment of security threats, including those posed by China, North Korea and Russia, comes as Taiwan closely monitors Chinese People’s Liberation Army air and sea exercises, including one with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. The drills are the latest in a series including maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait last year that a senior US general said would be key to any invasion. “Because of that increase in military activity,
HAN KUANG: The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers said The armed forces would for the first time test new rules of engagement (ROE) at this month’s annual Han Kuang exercises, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers told a news conference in Taipei. ROE cards would be issued to select combat troops to test their ability to function without tight control, they said. The most recent edition of the rules was published last year, they said. One of the cards’ two templates identifies enemy targets that soldiers