Much has been made of Friday’s cancelation of a top-level meeting to seek a resolution to the student protests that are being staged in the Legislative Yuan over the controversial cross-strait service trade pact.
The meeting was “postponed” after Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) rejected President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) request for a discussion at the Presidential Office over the protests.
The Chinese-language United Daily News called this latest stand-off between Ma and Wang the second round of their political struggle, which began in September last year.
At that time, Ma, as chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), made it clear that Wang should no longer remain in his post in light of his alleged role in a case of reported influence-peddling.
Wang, a 73-year-old veteran lawmaker, was the clear winner in the first round, having kept both his party membership and his job as speaker, despite Ma’s efforts to dethrone him.
The Presidential Office said that when Ma called Wang late on Thursday to invite him to the meeting, Wang said: “Sure! When?”
The office then arranged a meeting for 11am the next day and notified Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺).
The purpose of the meeting was to try to find a way to end the student-led occupation of the Legislature, deal with the disputes over the cross-strait service trade agreement and discuss the legislature’s handling of the pact.
Ma’s office said that about half an hour before the scheduled start of the meeting, Wang called Timothy Yang (楊進添), Presidential Office secretary-general, to say that he could not attend and later sent a written explanation.
The Presidential Office said that Ma called Wang twice and KMT Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) called Wang a third time, but Wang could not be swayed.
At about noon, a presidential spokesperson confirmed that the meeting had been postponed and said that the president was supporting the speaker’s position that the legislature would seek to resolve the issues.
Wang later issued a statement listing his reasons for declining the meeting, and disclosed the information about the unsuccessful telephone calls made by Ma and Tseng.
Political commentators said that the underlying message in Wang’s statement was “I call the shots in the Legislative Yuan, but if I’d gone to the Presidential Office, I would have had to listen to you [the president].”
Political experts said Wang has publicly promised to refrain from using his authority to forcefully remove the students.
Therefore, Wang would not welcome being given directives by Ma, nor would he want to be seen to endorse the positions of the president and the premier, who have both been criticized for trying to push the cross-strait agreement through the legislature.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
RSS