President Chen Shui-bian (
Dubbing himself the president's "old comrade in arms," Shih wrote a letter to the president on Monday whose content was published in the Chinese-language China Times.
Corruption claims
In the letter, Shih urged the president to step down from his post since he has lost the people's trust following his son-in-laws' alleged involvement in a corruption scandal and the recent controversy over the Presidential Office's special allowances.
"For the sake of Taiwan and the DPP, I urge Chen to step down bravely. Only a truly brave warrior admits his mistakes and gives up what he holds dear," the letter said.
Shih held a press conference yesterday morning to elaborate his motives for writing the letter, saying that he "agonized" over writing it, yet he had to speak on behalf of the common people.
Shih urged the president to stop defending himself and his family and to step down as soon as possible since the Presidential Office has become a source of social unrest.
"President Chen asked people to believe in him yet did not offer the truth," Shih said. "What can people do when the president and his son-in-law refuse to admit their mistakes?"
In response, Mark Chen said that he and the president knew about the letter after reading the newspaper in the morning. The Presidential Office received the letter at noon.
Mark Chen said the president respects Shih very much and Shih's opinions on constitutional reform and freedom of the press had influenced him a lot.
"President Chen and Shih are good friends and old friends. They have not seen each other for a long time. I hope I have a chance to arrange a meeting between the two," Mark Chen said in response to questions from reporters before attending the DPP's weekly central standing committee meeting yesterday afternoon.
Different voices
When asked how the president reacted to Shih's call for his resignation, Mark Chen said: "President Chen knows he needs to listen to many different voices. Shih's voice is significant to the president."
DPP spokesman Tsai Huang-liang (
But DPP caucus whip Yeh Yi-ching (
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
RSS