Former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who formally took the helm of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday, said the party would continue to protect Taiwan’s sovereignty and promote social justice.
“President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) finished his first term by offering apologies and started his second term with large protests. Taiwanese are suffering from the government’s failed policies and as the largest opposition party, the DPP has to promote the people’s welfare and interests,” Su said during the handover ceremony.
The new DPP leader said Taiwan was a “people’s Taiwan,” not a “politician’s Taiwan.” The nation’s future should not be decided by politicians, but should be decided by all people in Taiwan, he said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Regardless of ethnicity, any person living in Taiwan should not be given up on, he said. The DPP vows to protect everyone’s human rights and promote social justice, he said.
The party hopes to create a fair society, a healthy education system, a clean government and a sustainable economic system, Su said, adding that Taiwan should strive for sustainable growth.
Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said at the ceremony that given all the media speculation that he could visit Beijing as DPP chairman, Su should be very cautious in how he handles the matter.
Such a visit, if it were ever to take place, would have to proceed transparently and Su would be responsible for what he says while in the Chinese capital, she said.
Beijing would probably set up Su and distort his words or actions, so he has to be very careful, Lu said.
Su said on Monday that he plans to re-establish the DPP’s Department of China Affairs and establish a Chinese affairs committee that would include academics and experts to engage Beijing with a flexible approach.
Su, who won the leadership election on Sunday, took over the chairmanship from interim chairperson Chen Chu (陳菊), the mayor of Greater Kaohsiung.
Former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Secretary-General Lin Join-sane (林中森) also attended the ceremony.
Regarding Ma’s reported intention to invite Su for a meeting, Lin said Presidential Office Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) would soon visit Su’s DPP office to offer the invitation.
Meanwhile, at a separate occasion, Huang said the TSU would initiate a no-confidence motion against the government, adding that Premier Sean Chen’s (陳冲) Cabinet is in a mess. Huang cited Minister of Finance Christina Liu’s (劉憶如) resignation offer just after the May 20 presidential inauguration ceremony as an example.
He said Sean Chen was unable to handle Liu’s resignation offer appropriately and that the Cabinet was in chaos.
Sean Chen should step down and the Cabinet should be reshuffled immediately, Huang said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS