The New Taipei City Election Commission yesterday held a televised debate between New Power Party (NPP) Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) and Sun Chi-cheng (孫繼正), chairman of the Greater Taipei Stability Power Alliance, a group opposed to gay marriage, over the second round of voting for the legislator’s recall scheduled for Dec. 16.
Sun criticized Huang for supporting amending of the Civil Code to legalize gay marriage and said it would destroy values that are intrinsic to families, adding that this was his primary reason for launching the recall effort against Huang.
More than half of New Taipei City residents are opposed to the proposed amendments, as well as 60 percent of all Taiwanese, Sun said.
Photo: Chiu Shu-yu, Taipei Times
There is neither legal nor public consensus on the issue, but Huang insists on “pushing it through,” Sun said, adding that such actions go against Huang’s touted belief that “people should determine public policies.”
Huang’s actions have gone against his campaign promise to make “the next generation happier,” Sun said.
Using his daughter’s school textbook, Sun said that its contents, such as sections on masturbation, fellatio and anal sex, are not only inappropriate, but absurd.
Photo: Chiu Shu-yu, Taipei Times
Such material drives students toward sexual liberalism, making them susceptible to orgies, sadism and masochism, threesomes and more, Sun said, adding that it was inappropriate handling of the subject of sexual education.
Sun called on constituents in the city’s Sijhih (汐止), Jinshan (金山), Wanli (萬里), Juifang (瑞芳), Pingsi (平溪) and Gongliao (貢寮) districts to vote and witness how their votes would become a milestone in Taiwan’s governance.
Huang said he respects that people oppose same-sex marriage out of religious beliefs, adding that he had not verbally abused Christians and called on everyone to respect different opinions.
Citing the Council of Grand Justices’ Constitutional Interpretation No. 748 in May, Huang said that same-sex marriage has been declared a basic human right and by law, the Legislative Yuan has to conclude the amendments within a two-year period.
Public issues must be based on facts and common sense, and should be in line with the law, Huang said, adding that those who spread hateful commentaries are themselves the source of social instability.
Huang thanked the public for its support and said that he has not disappointed his supporters since his election, adding that the televised debate was due to the amendments to the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公務人員選舉罷免法).
His attendance at legislative affairs, including inquiries and budget reviews, was in accordance with his campaign promises, Huang said.
Rejecting Sun’s claim that he has not tended to the needs of his constituents, Huang said he has asked the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) to ameliorate and improve the crowded conditions on Siko TRA Station platforms near the Sijhih Science Park.
Huang also said he was involved in the environmental assessment of a planned extension of the Taipei MRT System into New Taipei City’s Sijhih District (汐止), adding that all of his actions are recorded on the publicly viewable platforms associated with the Legislative Yuan.
The debate is positive for the deepening of democracy in Taiwan, Huang said.
According to the recall act, the recall vote — the last of three phases — needs the approval of at least 25 percent of the total eligible voters in an electoral district to be considered successful.
Huang’s constituency, the 12th electoral district of New Taipei City, has 251,191 eligible voters, requiring 62,798 “yes” votes to remove the NPP lawmaker from his post.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS