Veteran political activist Shih Ming-te (施明德) yesterday spoke out in favor of same-sex marriage and gay rights in a Facebook post, saying that if he were elected president next year, his government would allow same-sex marriage and give gay couples the same rights as heterosexual couples.
According to the constitution, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights passed by the legislature in 2009 are considered domestic statutes, Shih said.
That means the government could promulgate same-sex marriage without the need for the Legislative Yuan to pass any new bills, Shih said.
The 74-year-old Shih announced on Thursday that he would run in January’s presidential election as an independent.
One of the nation’s longest-serving political prisoners, Shih was a founding member of the Democratic Progressive Party and served as its chairman for two years before resigning from the party in 2000.
He was one of the leaders of an anti-corruption campaign against then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in 2006.
Shih’s wife, Chen Chia-chun (陳嘉君), who is the executive director of the Shih Ming-te Culture Foundation, moderated discussions between lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LBGT) rights activists and legislators last year.
The Legislative Yuan reviewed a same-sex marriage bill in December last year, the first time a bill to legalize same-sex marriage had ever been reviewed at the parliamentary level in East Asia, but the bill stalled because of opposition from the Ministry of Justice and religious groups and remains shelved in committee.
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
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
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