Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislators yesterday denied that former president Lee Teng-hui (
The legislators made the remarks in response to a story run by the local Chinese language newspaper, the China Times, which said that Lee told Presidential Office Secretary-General Mark Chen (
TSU Legislator Ho Min-hao (
"There have been a series of rumors and speculation implying that the relationship between former president Lee and President Chen has deteriorated sharply, because the TSU cast invalid votes on the recall motion. But I can say those rumors are not true," Ho said.
Ho said that he suspected the pan-blue camp had chosen to spread the rumor now because the TSU and DPP were having problems coordinating their campaigns for the year-end elections, and so it's a vulnerable time.
"Former president Lee only cares about whether a localized regime will continue [in power]. He does not care about the people who are trying to cause trouble between him and the president," Ho said.
Meanwhile, DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun, who met Lee before the recall vote, yesterday was upbeat on relations between Chen and Lee, saying that it was not a surprise for two people to have different opinions but that he did not think there would be problems regarding DPP-TSU cooperation.
"Even husband and wife have different views. It is unavoidable for Chen and Lee to have diverse opinions," Yu said. "But as far as I know, the two presidents have good interaction and have the same goal: to make Taiwan better. The cooperation between the two parties is completely fine."
Yu added that the DPP was now negotiating with TSU leaders about coordinating their strategies for the Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral elections.
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but