A historic realignment of Israeli politics jumped forward when longtime Labor Party leader and Mideast peace advocate Shimon Peres transferred his loyalties to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a rival who turned into an ally when he pulled Israel out of Gaza.
Saying the prime minister was the best choice to lead Israel to peace with the Palestinians, Peres announced his switch on Wednesday, quitting his political home of six decades to campaign for Sharon's new centrist party. Peres cited peace efforts but is also piqued at Labor Party members, who earlier this month rejected his bid to become Labor's candidate for prime minister again.
Peres' defection was an important coup for Sharon in the scramble by the major parties to recruit high-profile supporters during the political realignment that has shaken the country over the past three weeks.
Now both Sharon and Peres have left parties they guided for decades, joining forces in a new political lineup.
They could emerge from March 28 elections at the head of a solid bloc in favor of compromises for peace with the Palestinians for the first time.
Many Israelis respect Peres, an 82-year-old former prime minister, as an elder statesman and peacemaker, but they remain wary of his dovish politics.
Under a reported deal worked out with Sharon, Peres would support Kadima, the party Sharon formed last week after leaving the hardline Likud, but he would not officially join the party and he would not run for a seat in parliament, where he has served since 1959.
In return, Sharon would give Peres a senior post in his next government if Sharon is re-elected.
His voice shaking with emotion, Peres said the decision to leave Labor was not easy, but he believed Sharon was best suited to pursue a peace deal with the Palestinians.
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