Suspecting that China played a role in the recent disclosure of secret National Security Bureau (NSB) funds, a group of DPP lawmakers yesterday challenged their colleagues to pledge allegiance to the Taiwanese people and "reject China's plan to buy Taiwan."
Peter Lin (
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
In response, PFP spokesman Hsieh Kung-ping (
Lin alleged that pro-unification forces in Taiwan have allied with -- and been absorbed by -- China after losing their battle following the peaceful transition of power in the 2000 presidential race.
The trend is shown in the fact that many of the nation's secret agents have been bought off by China and that many retired government officials have crossed the Strait to develop their careers, Lin said.
In an effort to raise lawmakers' awareness of the crisis, Lin and Charles Chiang (江昭儀), another alliance member, visited the offices of the PFP, KMT and TSU legislative caucuses to ask their leaders to sign a declaration pledging their allegiance.
Lin and Chiang wanted the PFP, in particular, to clarify whether its chairman, James Soong (
The two DPP lawmakers say they have information indicating that Soong met with some "important figures" in Cambodia, including a retired intelligence official in close contact with fugitive Liu Kuan-chun (
The alliance members succeeded in gaining the PFP's support for the declaration, but only after agreeing to reciprocate by signing another declaration drafted by the PFP.
Under the declaration presented by PFP lawmaker Lin Te-fu (林德福), who received the alliance members, the DPP members would pledge to get to the bottom of any unlawful government practices -- such as those involving the secret NSB accounts -- in order to "uphold justice for the people."
Lawmaker Cheng Feng-shih (
According to Cheng, some "political speculators" with two pass-ports have fled overseas after making a mess of Taiwan's political scene.
Also yesterday, another group of DPP and TSU lawmakers led by Tsai Chi-fang (
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but