The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday mapped out a three-step plan toward constitutional reform, claiming it was more radical than proposals set down by the Democratic Progress Party (DPP).
The measure, announced by KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
"We will propose our new constitution draft next February and invite President Chen to debate the issue," said Lien during a KMT presidential campaign rally last night. "The second stage [after the election] will be to amend the current Constitution to add a referendum article."
"The final step is to put our new Constitution draft to a referendum at the same time as the legislative elections next December," Lien said.
On Sept. 28, Chen told the DPP's national assembly his intention to put a new constitution to a referendum. At the time, Lien responded by saying, "It is nonsense."
In October, however, Lien said he would organize a constitutional-reform committee if he won the presidential election.
Intending to reverse the public's image that the pan-blue alliance is against a referendum, Lien said last night that any referendum should be a constitutional-level mechanism and not based on a law ratified by the Legislative Yuan, as proposed by the DPP.
"Except on whether to change the official name of the country, the pan greens and the pan blues do not differ in how to draw up a new constitution," Lien said.
All four major political parties campaigned this weekend in and around Tainan, the hometown of both Chen and Lien.
More than 10,000 supporters were been mobilized to attended Lien's rally and many pan-blue heavyweights, including People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
Meanwhile, former president Lee Teng-hui (
"The power has been returned to the hands of people and everyone expects to have the referendum mechanism However, only now do they [the pan-blue alliance] finally begin to talk about implementing the direct right of the people," Lee said at a founding ceremony of the party's district headquarters in Tainan County.
"I hope that the Taiwanese people will not be cheated again because Taiwan cannot return to the old ways," he said.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
RSS