The KMT yesterday wasted no time in courting Legislator Su Yin-kuei (
"Su's remarkable performance in the Legislative Yuan was obvious to all," said KMT legislative leader Lee Chia-chin (
"We hope that Su will take our offer into consideration," Lee said.
As well as the KMT, independent lawmakers also invited Su to join their caucus.
Su expressed his gratitude for the goodwill shown by his colleagues.
"I appreciate their friendly gestures," Su said. "But for now, I haven't thought about joining another party."
The TSU expelled Su on Monday for falsely accusing his comrade, TSU Legislator Lo Chih-ming (
Although he criticized his former party and described its decision-making process as "orderless," Su nonetheless offered his best wishes to the TSU, saying that he hoped the party would grow to become more mature in the future.
Founded in 2001 by former president Lee Teng-hui (
While the KMT and independent lawmakers rushed to invite Su to join them, the DPP kept its distance from the legislator expelled by its sister party.
When asked whether the DPP would try to persuade Su to join its legislative caucus, DPP caucus whip Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said there had been no discussion of the issue.
"We did not ask fellow DPP members about this issue nor hold any discussion about it," Chen said, adding that the DPP caucus would explore the matter later after the furor over Su's expulsion had died down.
In response to the pan-blue camp's overtures to Su, the TSU defended its decision to expel him and said he was free to do what he liked.
TSU legislative whip Chien Lin Whei-jun (
He had also frequently voted against vital bills in defiance of the TSU's party line and the party could take no more, Chien Lin said.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
The Civil Aviation Administration yesterday said that it is considering punishments for China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines for making hard landings and overworking their cabin crew when the nation was hit by Typhoon Kong-rey in October last year. The civil aviation authority launched an investigation after media reported that many airlines were forced to divert their flights to different airports or go around after failing to land when the typhoon affected the nation on Oct. 30 and 31 last year. The agency reviewed 503 flights dispatched by Taiwanese airlines during those two days, as well as weather data, flight hours
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Three people have had their citizenship revoked after authorities confirmed that they hold Chinese ID cards, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday. Two of the three people were featured in a recent video about Beijing’s “united front” tactics by YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), including Su Shi-en (蘇士恩), who displayed a Chinese ID card in the video, and taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲), who mentioned he had obtained a Chinese ID card in a telephone call with Chen, Liang told the council’s weekly news conference. Lee, who reportedly worked in