Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) yesterday said he would propose a resolution today urging the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help a Taiwanese-American held captive in North Korea.
Huang said Taiwan must do something to show its concern for the welfare of its people. Laura Ling (凌志美), a US citizen whose mother is a Taiwanese, and Euna Lee, a Korean-American — journalists from an online news outlet, Current TV — were arrested and detained by North Korean guards when they were filming a story on refugees on the border of North Korea and China on March 17.
According to a Central News Agency report, Ling's mother, Wang Mei-yan, is a native of Tainan and had served as the deputy head of the Formosa Association for Public Affairs office in Los Angeles.
When asked for comment, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus deputy secretary-general Hsiao Ching-tien (蕭景田) yesterday said he agreed with Huang's proposal because Ling comes from Taiwan. But Hsiao added the KMT caucus had not reached a consensus on whether to take any action to offer assistance to Ling and her family.
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs James Chang (章計平) said yesterday that the ministry had sent a letter to the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Relations Office in Washington as well as in Seoul to find out more about the case and discuss how Taiwan could help with the rescue effort.
Huang was still collecting signatures for the petition yesterday. He said he expected to complete the petition today.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
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
The government would cancel kendo practitioner Su Yu-cheng’s (蘇郁程) nationality if he is confirmed to have represented China in the World Kendo Championships in Milan, Italy, last week, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. “We have consulted the Sports Administration and were told that athletes participating in the championships must have the nationality of the country that they represent. They must also present their passports as proof,” council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a weekly news conference. “If Su indeed represented China in the championships, we suspect that he has obtained Chinese nationality.” The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the
FATAL ILLNESS: Untreated symptoms can rapidly worsen to complications such as high fever, seizures and loss of consciousness, and can be life-threatening, a doctor said Hospitals have been reporting dozens of people with heat-related illnesses every day over the past week, given continuous high daytime temperatures, so recognizing the early signs of heatstroke is crucial in preventing serious complications, a Taipei City Hospital emergency physician said. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a heat alert for 19 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures in New Taipei City, Miaoli County and Pingtung County likely to exceed 38°C, and temperatures in 12 cities and counties likely to exceed 36°C for three days straight. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses every day from