Premier Su Tseng-chang (
"We politicians should not only think about ourselves. We should think about this and see what we can do for the people," Su said, urging his colleagues to help end the protests, adding that scandals and corruption must be solved through the justice system.
"What we should do right now is figure out a way to end the protests as soon as possible, because more and more incidents are taking place and more and more people are getting injured."
Su made the remarks in response to questions from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator William Lai (賴清德) on the legislative floor yesterday about Monday's clash.
Lai told Su he was worried about the potential spread of such incidents, and the premier said that he was concerned as well.
"We 23 million Taiwanese citizens are all in the same boat. As a result, I sincerely urge my fellow politicians not to be selfish and to not only think about their own careers. We need to do something for our people and for this country," Su said.
The premier added that he had always been against the idea of expressing political ideas through protests.
"Protests create chaos and damage the economy, society and our next generations," Su said. "If the economy or society collapses, there will be no future for politicians, either."
Wang spoke in a separate setting yesterday, calling for people to remain coolheaded and to show respect and tolerance toward one other.
All politicians should share the responsibility of ironing out political differences and seeking stability and harmony for Taiwanese society, Wang said.
The legislative speaker also called for law enforcement authorities to take the clashes in Kaohsiung on Monday night as a lesson to prevent similar clashes from occurring in the future.
Wang appealed for legislators in particular to listen closer to the voices of the people and to help maintain calm in the community.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to