Lawmakers from the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) repeated their complaint yesterday that President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration address was too conciliatory toward China, and that he was trying to fool the people into thinking China would reciprocate his goodwill.
The lawmakers said Chen's soft approach amounted to a betrayal of those who supported him.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"What kind of goodwill did he receive from China? He fooled Taiwan's voters," TSU Legislator Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) said at a news conference, speaking on behalf of the pro-unification party.
Lo derided Chen's China stance with an earthy slang phrase de-scribing him as a suitor pursuing someone who wasn't interested.
During his campaign, Chen adopted a strong anti-China stance that had Chinese leaders fuming. The message played well with his core supporters, who oppose unification.
But since his re-election, Chen has sought to ease tensions with China and calm Washington's fear that he might provoke a war.
The TSU was especially upset with a part of Chen's speech saying the public hadn't reached a consensus on whether the nation should seek permanent independence from China or should move toward eventual unification.
Lo insisted that the majority of Taiwanese agree the island is a sovereign nation.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said the TSU should show more understanding for Chen. Tsai said Chen had done his best to consider several competing interests in the speech.
"The president was taking various things into account: domestic harmony, international support and cross-strait stability," he said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
RSS