Incoming Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) is set to officially take the party’s helm today and has already laid out several major changes to improve the party’s external relations and connections.
The DPP would re-establish a representative office in the US, as well as one in Japan, if possible, Su told reporters outside his office yesterday.
The former premier said on Monday that he plans to re-establish the DPP’s Department of China Affairs and establish a Chinese affairs committee that will include academics and experts, to engage Beijing with a flexible attitude and approach.
The moves would be an effort to improve the DPP’s relations with the US — which was accused by many DPP members of having offered support for President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) re-election campaign — forge closer ties with Japan and, most importantly, promote exchanges with Beijing.
Responding to a reporter’s question on why the reactivated department would use the name “China” rather than “Mainland,” Su said “China” is a more neutral term.
“All the countries in the world call it China. China also calls itself China,” he said.
However, the new DPP head was not that upbeat when he spoke of Ma, who called and congratulated Su on his victory on Sunday night and extended an invitation for a meeting.
Su said the Presidential Office has shown a “lack of courtesy” when it stated that Su had agreed to meet with Ma. Su said he did not decline the invitation in their telephone conversation “out of courtesy.”
However, it would take intensive preparatory negotiations on the agenda before any meeting takes place, according to Su’s spokesperson, Andrew Wang (王閔生).
Su is expected to announce his appointment of the party’s secretary-general today, after taking over the chairmanship from outgoing interim chairperson Chen Chu (陳菊) in an official handover ceremony in Taipei.
Media reported that Su’s close aide Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀), who served as deputy Taipei County commissioner under Su, former representative to the US Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and former Changhua County commissioner Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) are possible candidates for the position, but Su’s office declined to comment.
The appointments of the party’s deputy secretaries-general and various department directors are expected to be announced later this week.
Former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and Taiwan Solidarity Union Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) are among the political heavyweights who have been invited to attend the ceremony.
In other developments, former DPP chairperson Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) ended his week-long hunger strike in front of the Legislative Yuan on Monday night.
Warned by doctors about dehydration and malnutrition, Hsu announced the end of the hunger strike before being sent to hospital for a medical checkup.
Hsu staged his personal protest against Ma with three demands — freezing fuel and electricity prices, retaining a ban on beef imports containing residues of the feed additive ractopamine and giving a presidential pardon to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who is serving a 17-and-a-half-year prison sentence for corruption.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
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Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
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