Former Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) chairman Su Chin-chiang (蘇進強) was expelled from the party, and his party membership revoked, for accompanying former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰) on a visit to China.
In the monthly TSU Central Executive Committee meeting yesterday, a party executive said that Su addressed Chinese officials and gave interviews on talk shows that were contrary to the TSU’s platform, and this had raised the ire of party supporters.
Most committee members saw the trip by Su not as a private visit, but that he joined the delegation led by Lien. During the trip, Su spoke of the delegation as “encompassing people from all sectors of Taiwan, so it is symbolic of inclusive representation.”
Media also referred to Su in their reports as “former TSU chairman,” which committee members said created a false impression that the TSU agreed to Lien’s purpose of visiting China, which caused major damage to the party.
The meeting said that Su had endorsed Lien as “a champion of promoting cross-strait speech” during the trip and made remarks such as: “The Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] should also seize the opportunity to make changes,” and “the DPP should make its ‘Taiwan independence clause’ history.”
As Su’s talks were in serious violation of the TSU’s stance, the committee voted unanimously to expel Su and revoke his party membership.
TSU chairman Huang Kun-hui (黃昆輝) reported the meeting result to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), the spiritual leader of the TSU, who was quoted as agreeing with the comittee’s decision.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we