Premier Frank Hsieh (
The DPP has recently come under fire for negotiating with the People First Party (PFP), one of its political rivals.
"Many people believe that the DPP's main policy is incompatible with negotiations with its political rivals. However, these are two totally different issues," Hsieh said.
"Negotiation does not mean that we have abandoned our beliefs," he said.
Hsieh made the remarks during his short speech before the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday morning.
He said that the DPP's main theme is to create a better Taiwan with constant progress every year, and that negotiations with the party's rivals serve the same purpose.
The premier said that, although the DPP is the governing party, it needs other parties' support to carry out its policies.
When these policies are carried out, the people of Taiwan will be able to enjoy a better life, better environment and better country, he said.
Against the background of the recent tension between the DPP and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), Hsieh said that the DPP does not want to put undue pressure on the TSU, which would endanger ties between the two parties.
"The TSU has its own policies and theme. Our TSU friends have their own corner and their own way of contributing to the country, and we will keep it that way," Hsieh said.
The TSU and DPP have in the past maintained close ties and have cooperated under the banner of the pan-green alliance. However, relations between the two parties have become strained after President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) criticized former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), the spiritual leader of the TSU, on TV talk shows last week.
The premier said that negotiation and cooperation are the main priorities of his Cabinet team members, and that he would definitely not encourage any form of disrespect toward any individual or political party.
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
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
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
RSS