President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration welcomes a debate with opposition leaders on a controversial cross-strait service trade pact with China that has sparked student-led protests and the occupation of government buildings, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference, Jiang said he, Ma and Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) are open to debating the agreement with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), or other key opposition figures.
Asked whether debates would help ease public misgivings and break the standoff, Jiang said the government has never ruled out having a debate to expose the pros and cons of the pact and promote an exchange of ideas among political parties and different sectors of society.
Student-led protesters stormed the legislative chamber late on March 18 to block legislative approval of the pact, after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠) suddenly announced a day earlier that the agreement had passed the committee review stage and would be moved to the legislative plenary session for a vote.
The protesters have been camped out there since then, insisting they will not leave until their demands are met. Protesters occupying the Legislative Yuan have demanded a “civic constitutional meeting,” but Jiang yesterday said he had never heard of the term and was unsure of the nature of such a meeting.
Jiang said the student protesters have been making daily demands for six days, some of which have been later adjusted. He also added that he was not sure whether there have been calls for his resignation.
According to Jiang, administrative staff have been keeping up-to-date with the students’ demands daily.
He said that if the “civic constitutional meeting” is to be about sending back or reviewing the agreement with China, then he “does not fear any scrutiny,” adding that he would be willing to talk about every article in the pact.
Regarding constitutional issues, however, Jiang stated that they are separate topics and that during the past few days of demonstrations, he has yet to hear any requests in that regard.
Jiang said that the government has held national meetings before and knows how to convene similar conferences.
He said that a “civic constitutional meeting” would have to follow a similar procedure to the one used for the National Development Conference, which usually requires a few months of preparation.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS