The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should take all 52 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers to court if they have the guts, KMT caucus Whip Fu Kun-chi said yesterday in response to the DPP’s saying that it would pursue legal actions over what it called the KMT’s “atrocities” on Friday.
Massive brawls broke out on Friday and continued throughout the day in the main chamber of the Legislative Yuan as DPP legislators tried to prevent the passing of legislative reform bills.
The Taiwanese public saw the “darkest day” in the history of the nation’s parliament, Fu said yesterday.
Photo: CNA
Aside from the physical altercations, Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) was a “forced captive” in the resting chambers as a result of the DPP’s “thuggish” behavior, Fu said, adding that the DPP at the time also threatened to only let Han leave if he would announce recesses and not allow legislative proceedings for items on Friday’s agenda.
It is unfortunate that president-elect William Lai (賴清德) failed to criticize the violent acts of his own party’s legislators, Fu added, citing nine major incidents of violence that he said DPP legislators had committed against KMT legislators. The DPP had also broken public facilities, assaulted the 72-year-old Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Chester Chou (周萬來) and threatened legislatorial staff, he said.
KMT Legislator Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲) was attacked and had a bruised ribcage, KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) had a bruised hand and female KMT Legislator Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽) was tackled by male DPP Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) and also sustained bruises, Fu said.
Chen said she was unable to stop Chung from clambering up onto the speaker’s podium on Friday and that Chung tackling her could be considered an act of violence, harassment or even an intent to commit murder.
Chen urged DPP legislators to support her in criticizing Chung’s actions and ensuring gender equality in the legislature.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday criticized the DPP’s violence, stating that he believed the public could not accept the DPP’s blatant attack on police officers and legislators who were doing their jobs.
Chu urged Lai not to succumb to arrogance and indulge his party’s lawmakers in creating a scene when the party is in power, adding that he hoped that Taiwan would have a democratic and progressive society and not a community rife with violence from “so-called democratic supporters.”
Additional reporting by Huang Shu-li
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
RSS