The mobilization of tens of thousands against the cross-strait service trade agreement is “a grave” national matter that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) must face by holding a dialogue with the protesters to find a solution, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said yesterday.
Lee called on Ma to sit down with the student-led activists, who yesterday entered the fifth day of their occupation of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, to listen to what they have to say about the pact and understand what they want the government to do so they can end the protest and go home as soon as possible.
“This is a grave matter for the country and the president needs to take it seriously,” Lee said.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Lee made the remarks in response to media inquiries about the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Monday sending the controversial pact to a plenary session even though it has not completed the committee-level stage of the review process.
The former president told reporters yesterday that he would have handled the protest movement differently than Ma has if he were still in charge.
During the Wild Lily (野百合學運) student movement in 1991 that culminated in legislative reforms, Lee met with the then-protest leaders on March 21 to listen to their views about political reform.
“People should not call the young people taking part in the pact protest ‘mobsters’ because they are voicing their views and they care about the country’s future,” Lee said.
He added that Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) had done the right thing by not attending a meeting on Friday that Ma called by evoking Article 44 of the Constitution to discuss the issue with Wang and Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺).
“Ma was trying to shirk his responsibility to resolve the issue by passing it on to Wang,” Lee said.
Earlier yesterday, the Presidential Office said in a statement that Ma would not accept the protesters’ demand that he engage with them in a talk about the service trade pact.
The statement said Ma has always been willing to talk to groups representing all interests in a peaceful, rational manner, but that he found the students forcefully occupying the legislative chamber and then using the sit-in as leverage to demand a talk with the president to be unacceptable.
Ma had been scheduled to visit a business in Greater Tainan yesterday, as well as attend an annual event held by civic group Life Line International, but the appointments were canceled and he made no public appearances yesterday.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned