Nearly every member of the Welfare State Alliance, a faction of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), has come out in opposition to DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yee's (
They said that the alliance will not support Lee's proposal since it calls for an open approach to China-bound investment.
On Monday, Lee, the leader of the alliance, announced that it planned to hold a meeting yesterday with alliance members to hammer out a new resolution on China policy for the DPP.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Lee, who is also a key member of former premier Frank Hsieh's (
Lee then suggested drafting a new party resolution on China policy calling for the adoption of a more open approach to cross-strait economic exchanges.
During the meeting yesterday, alliance member and DPP Legislator Wang Shih-cheng (
Wang stressed that the Welfare State Alliance was "the last line of defense for defending Taiwan's sovereignty" and that it was inappropriate for the alliance to support a resolution that embraces China's market with open arms.
Wang ripped up a copy of the proposal and threatened to withdraw from the alliance if it insisted on submitting it to the DPP's national convention, which is scheduled to be held in July.
"I don't think this proposal will benefit Hsieh's approval rating," Wang added.
DPP legislators You Ching (
Facing members' vehement opposition, Lee defended the proposal, saying that it did not mean abandoning Taiwan's sovereignty. He said the alliance would revisit the topic on another occasion.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would
RSS