The pan-blue camp will ask judges to examine and recount only the valid ballots cast in favor of President Chen Shui-bian (
In response to the pan-blue camp's request, one of the lawyers representing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Wellington Koo (
"Since a recount will be held, we should have a complete recount, which means we review, examine and recount every single valid and invalid ballot," Koo said.
LISTS AND STAMPS
Koo said that the pan-blue camp had also proposed that voters' name lists and the stamps used to mark the ballots -- which are provided by the Central Election Commission to local polling stations -- also be examined.
The DPP does not endorse that proposal, either, the lawyer said.
Both the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party (PFP) alliance agreed that the recount should be carried out and overseen by local district courts, so that it will not take too much time.
Meanwhile, the Taiwan High Court will today hear the suit filed by the KMT-PFP alliance against the legality of the re-election of Chen and Lu.
Today's hearing will be presided over by Judge Wu Ching-yuan (吳景源), who will be joined by his fellow judges, Cheng Chun-hui (
NO ATTENDANCE
KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) said that both KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) will not attend today's hearing, while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that Chen and Lu will not show up, either.
For today's hearing, the KMT-PFP alliance will be represented by lawyers Tsai Yu-ling (蔡玉玲), Lin Mei-ching (林玫卿), Lee Yi-kwang (李宜光), Yu Ta-wei (俞大衛) and Hanson Chiang (姜志俊).
The DPP will be represented by lawyers Koo, Joseph Lin (
Taiwan High Court Spokesman Wen Yau-yuan (
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