The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday questioned the pan-blue camp's insistence on holding a massive demonstration tomorrow given that the DPP government has agreed to the opposition's demands.
The DPP had agreed to a recount as well as to a request that experts recommended by the blue camp investigate the assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian (
The DPP held a briefing for the international media yesterday to respond to doubts about the election as well as the assassination attempt last Friday.
The party reiterated that it wanted any recount to be conducted in a clean and transparent manner and that an investigation should be held into the shooting.
"We've already expressed our willingness to allow a general recount of the ballots. We've also agreed to welcome experts, including Dr. Henry Lee, recommended by the opposition parties to take part in the investigation of the attempted assassination," DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (
"We are wiling to provide the entire truth. So is there still a need for such a demonstration on Saturday?" he asked.
Chang said the blue camp's refusal to go along with legal changes to allow an immediate recount stemmed from a fear it would be left without an excuse to hold the demonstration tomorrow.
legal means
He said the DPP expects social order and harmony to be maintained, adding that the legal mechanism, rather than extrajudicial means, should be used by those who question the outcome of the election.
The DPP said both it and Chen have rejected calls by the opposition to announce a state of emergency, calling the suggestion ridiculous and irresponsible.
"We know that the declaration of a state of emergency has in many countries been a formula for dictatorship because this emergency decree expands the power of the president and, to some extent, deprives the public of its usual rights and responsibilities," Chang said.
"To twist the constitutional framework to say that the mobilization of demonstrators to challenge the government amounts to a state of emergency under which a decree can be announced encourages any governing party or the president's supporters to demonstrate," he said. "This would give the president an excuse to declare a state of emergency and thus expand his own power."
The DPP said many of its supporters in the south have become agitated in the face of the blue-camp demonstration and have called on the party to stage a counter-demonstration tomorrow in front of the Presidential Office.
Chang said many party members have said they are frustrated about not being able to put an end to the ongoing blue-camp protest.
growing discontent
DPP Legislator Lin Yu-sheng (林育生) said party supporters in his constituency have called his office to express anger over the demonstrations and suggested mobilizing buses of pan-greens to besiege and "counter-attack" the pan-blue supporters.
Chang said the party has asked its supporters to exercise tolerance and self-restraint and to avoid provocative acts.
He said the DPP will ask party officials to refrain from mobilizing supporters to come to Taipei tomorrow, but added he can't guarantee individuals will not mobilize on their own to stage a counter-protest.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS