The ruling DPP yesterday appeared to view opposition parties' moves to either found a new political party or seek inter-party cooperation, as political strategies that are unlikely to be put into action.
"It's more likely that they are trying to deliver a political messages rather than actually planning to act on [their pronouncements]," DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday.
Hsieh was responding to former KMT business czar Liu Tai-ying's (劉泰英) idea of organizing a "mainstream" party and People First Party Chairman James Soong's (宋楚瑜) remarks that he would welcome former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) to the PFP.
Hsieh stressed the importance of political credibility to win the trust of the people and enhancing the development of a political party. Meanwhile, Shih yesterday, as scheduled, had a dinner banquet with PFP legislators including Liu Sung-pan (劉松藩) to discuss possible inter-party cooperation. Soong and former DPP chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良), however, did not attend the so-called "Chairmen's meeting (主席會)" banquet last night, but Soong said that, "There has to be a certain type of reorganization among political parties."
"Reorganizing doesn't mean denying the present state of political parties. We have to realize, however, the political reality and gather all those who share the same ideals as a force to stabilize the present political chaos," Soong said during an interview with local news channel TVBS, adding that the formation of a new political entity was not about power-sharing or power-bribes.
Liu, after the banquet, said that he had not discussed with Shih the possibility of his joining the party, saying,"It is still too early to say." But he did say that they exchanged views on various issues including economic and cultural problems.
"For the sake of political stability and economic solutions, we will work together," Liu said, adding that the atmosphere was harmonious.
Expressing his gratitude, Shih said that he believed that "no parties [including the PFP] in Taiwan would sell out Taiwan" and hoped that the government could enjoy better interaction with opposition parties. Shih said that he had asked Liu and the PFP to take part in a project, which pays tribute to those who had dedicated their lives to Taiwan. "The aim is to reinforce the concept of great reconciliation (
DPP legislative whip Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) said Shih would not be joining the PFP. "Can Shih accept the PFP's pro-unification stance? I don't think so," Hsu Tain-tsair told reporters at the Legislative Yuan yesterday morning.
Director of the DPP's department of organizational development Liu I-te (劉一德), moreover, said that the exodus of Shih and Hsu would not have too much impact on or cause immediate damage to the party.
"The best example is Hsu's case. Hsu used to have strong connections within the party. But when he decided to run as an independent presidential candidate, he gained fewer votes than expected," Liu I-te said during a radio interview yesterday morning, adding that the DPP still hoped Shih's faction could remain as DPP members.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday condemned incidents in which signage supporting Taiwan was snatched from spectators watching badminton at the Paris Olympics, saying it contravened the spirit of the Games and freedom of speech. The incident took place during the men’s doubles match on Friday, when Taiwan’s Lee Yang (李洋) and Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) advanced to the final after beating Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen. A unidentified man in a pink shirt was seen seizing the sign from a female spectator — later identified as Yang Chih-yun (楊芷芸), a Taiwanese studying in France — before being removed from the
TALLY: Sharpshooter Lee Meng-yuan won Taiwan’s first medal in Paris, taking home a bronze, while boxer Chen Nien-chin has secured at least a bronze medal Taiwanese badminton duo Lee Yang (李洋) and Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) yesterday won the gold medal in the men's doubles final at the Paris Olympics, defeating China's Liang Weikeng (梁偉鏗) and Wang Chan (王昶). The victory made them the first Taiwanese shuttlers to win more than one Olympic medal with back-to-back gold. They were crowned champions in the event at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. Earlier in the day, Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) secured her first Olympic medal in front of a crowd chanting her name, a day after fellow boxer Imane Khelif did the same, following days of online abuse
Taiwan is to secure at least one medal at the Paris Olympics following boxer Wu Shih-yi’s (吳詩儀) quarter-final victory in the women’s 60kg (lightweight) division, while the nation’s male badminton players topped their groups. Wu defeated Maria Jose Palacios of Ecuador, a Pan American Games bronze medalist last year, by majority decision, with four out of five judges scoring in her favor. The 26-year-old pugilist is guaranteed to win at least a bronze medal, as there is no bronze-medal match in boxing. The victory was significant for Taiwan. Wu’s success came after the elimination of three Taiwanese boxers, including Kan Chia-wei (甘佳葳) in the
A hacking group believed to be linked to the Chinese government stole passwords and documents from a Taiwanese government-affiliated research center that specializes in computing, cybersecurity researchers at Cisco Systems Inc said on Thursday. The attackers used a kind of malicious software tool that is almost entirely used by China-based groups, after they gained access to the unnamed research center as early as July last year, Cisco’s Talos threat intelligence group said in a report shared exclusively with Bloomberg News. Based on that and other techniques, Cisco believes with “moderate confidence” that the hackers are part of a state-sponsored espionage group called