Former Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) and other former officials yesterday expressed their support for New Power Party (NPP) Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), urging people in his constituency to vote against the lawmaker’s recall tomorrow.
Although his views on many issues might not reflect traditional beliefs, Huang is a legislator with ideals and one who protects the interests of the public, Lee said at a news conference held by the NPP.
Some people blame Huang for supporting same-sex marriage, but the overwhelming majority of people would remain attracted to the opposite sex and this would not be affected by the minority who are not, Lee said.
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei Times
There are exceptions to the majority’s natural behavior and people should be tolerant of minorities, Lee added.
The Legislative Yuan is a place where controversies in society are fought out, former national policy adviser Rex How (郝明義) said.
Legislators hold a very low position in people’s hearts and many accuse them of only doing their parties’ bidding after they are elected, forgetting the promises they made during their campaigns, How said.
Huang actively pushed for the threshold for recall petitions to be lowered to improve the Legislative Yuan, How said, referring to an amendment to the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) that was passed last month.
However, after the threshold was lowered, Huang himself became a target for recall, How said.
Former grand justice Hsu Yu-hsiu (許玉秀) said she regretted that people had petitioned to demand a recall election for Huang, when he actively fought for the electorate’s right to do so.
Huang is a hardworking legislator, Hsu said.
How and Hsu urged people to stand up and exercise their right cast a vote against Huang’s recall.
When asked during a radio interview yesterday whether he was confident that he would win the recall election, Huang said that he would not utter the words “I will win.”
Huang said he was 99 percent confident that the recall motion would not pass.
Media have reported that some groups have used ”recall Huang Kuo-chang, punish [President] Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文)” as a slogan in the campaign to recall Huang.
Huang said he did not believe that he was being “punished” for Tsai’s policies.
The Tsai administration is much better than former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government and it is inappropriate to use such heavy words, Huang said.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
RSS