In his New Year's address yesterday, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) stressed the need for reconciliation and dialogue as he called for both the ruling and opposition parties to take the initial step toward reconciliation and cooperation needed to power the nation toward reinvigo-rating the economy and upgrading its national competitiveness.
"Today is the beginning of a new year; I would like to hereby advocate openly that Taiwan must head toward a new era of consultation and dialogue," Chen said.
"Taiwan does not need bifurcation between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, nor does it need ongoing confrontation between the governing and opposition parties," he said, adding that "the governing and opposition parties each have their own roles to play. Fair competition, cooperation rather than confrontation, checks and bal-ances, and solidarity rather than infighting -- these are now the ardent expectations of the people of Taiwan."
Stating that "politics is an art of possibilities," Chen, noting that according to the Constitution the president should appoint a new premier and form a new Cabinet after the old one resigns, said he will listen attentively to the voice of the people and to the opinions of the governing and opposition parties in the process of making his decision.
"As long as it will benefit the stability of domestic politics, the welfare of the people, harmony among ethnic groups and cross-strait peace, anything can be open to reconciliation or cooperation between the governing and opposition parties," he said. Chen said that he expected to see a win-win situation in future relations between the governing and opposition parties, as well as the interaction between the new legislature and Cabinet.
In order to create a new and stable environment based on rational consultation and sincere dialogue between the ruling and opposition parties, Chen suggested the two sides could start with areas on which consensus had already been reached. These included the "10 priority bills" and "nine major laws" which the ruling and the opposition parties had showcased to their constituencies before last year's Dec. 11 legislative elections.
"We believe that these policy and legislative proposals would make good starting points for the engagement of rational consultation and sincere dialogue among political parties," Chen said.
In a bid to realize this goal, Chen expressed his willingness to invite leaders from both the ruling and opposition parties, as well as representatives of the executive and legislative branches of government, to meet as soon as possible to negotiate these legislations.
On the cross-strait front, Chen condemned Beijing's attempts to enact an anti-secession law, calling it an effort to seek justification for a military invasion of Taiwan. The move therefore constituted a unilateral change of the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and posed the greatest threat to regional stability and world peace, Chen said.
"In the past four years, we have on many occasions extended olive branches to China ? Despite our efforts, China remains reluctant to renounce its military intimidation of Taiwan," Chen said, and warmed "the Chinese authority not to underestimate the will of the Tai-wanese people to defend the sovereignty, security and dignity of the Republic of China."
With that said, Chen expressed gratitude to the US, Japan and other allies for supporting Taiwan and showing concern about peace in the Taiwan Strait.
Prior to delivering his New Year's address at the Presidential Office building, Chen, along with Vice President Annette Lu (
Despite the chilly weather, a massive crowd showed up for the event, many donning a white scarf -- a thoughtful small gift prepared by the event-organizers for these early birds.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was the only opposition politician seen at the ceremony yesterday.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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