New Party leaders yesterday continued to lash out at the People First Party (PFP), accusing the party of being two-faced (
The New Party has accused the PFP of poaching its members since the announcement on Thursday that New Party Taichung County legislator Feng Ting-kuo (馮定國) would join the PFP.
New Party legislator and spokesperson Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) yesterday said, "The PFP and the New Party are just like the two characters from the cartoon Tom and Jerry. While the two might appear to be pals, the cat, Tom, actually wants to swallow the mouse, Jerry."
After Lai's meeting with New Party Convener Hsieh Chi-ta (謝啟大) on Friday night, the two decided to continue to voice their anger with the PFP in order to reduce any negative impact Feng's defection might have on the party.
According to Lai, if PFP Chairman James Soong (
Lai also accused the PFP of being two-faced. Lai said that the PFP initially strongly supported New Party calls to suspend independent legislator Lo Fu chu (羅福助) for assaulting PFP legislator Diane Lee (李慶安), but that few PFP heavyweights actually showed up to vote on Lo's case.
Lai said the incident was an example of how the PFP only supports the opposition in public but then behind the scenes acts according to its best interests.
Rumor has it that Soong had suggested inviting New Party heavyweights -- such as the party's former convener Wang Chien-shien (王建火宣), former legislator Chou Yang-shang (周陽山) and senior member Kao Shin-wu (高新武) -- to represent the PFP in the legislative election. Lai, however, stressed yesterday that the three would never join the PFP.
Wang, who returned from a visit to China last night, held a press conference about the rumors upon his return. He told reporters he considers Soong's invitation an insult and that he would not stray from his party.
"I want to be the New Party's loyal dog," he said.
Wang earlier reportedly wrote a private letter to Feng which said that "Feng's behavior was worse than that of a dog."
In response to the criticism, a PFP spokesperson, Hsieh Kung-ping (
Meanwhile, New Party heavyweight Hsu Li-nung (許歷農) yesterday suggested that both his party and the PFP should work together closely in order to win mutual interests.
Hsu said he believes that the PFP would not try to poach the New Party's elite into its ranks intentionally.
He said he also has confidence that his party would not become a bubble (泡沫) party.
In August 1993, a group of young elite KMT members broke away from the party and established the New Party.
With only nine seats in the legislature, however, the party now faces the prospect of a PFP merger or takeover.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
RSS