Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said his Cabinet would take a tougher stance under the principle of “three musts” when dealing with people endangering Taiwan’s security, including prosecuting active-duty soldiers for treason in military court.
Cho made the remarks at Tainan’s Dawan Wulong Temple (大灣武龍宮), the latest venue in a series of nationwide policy information sessions hosted by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
“We must restore the public’s confidence. Those who advocate hostile military actions against Taiwan will be asked to leave this country,” Cho said.
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei Times
“Those who commit treason or contravene the law or the Constitution must receive stern punishment,” Cho said.
As for the third must, Cho said: “Active military personnel found guilty of treason, leaking classified information, colluding with enemy forces, insubordination, dereliction of duty or other serious offenses while in service must be tried in military court.”
Cho also criticized the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), accusing them of colluding to undermine the Constitution, fomenting political and social instability, and hindering the nation’s progress.
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei Times
The two opposition parties have made sweeping cuts to this year’s central government budget, affecting nearly all ministries and agencies, Cho said, adding that the slashing and freezing of essential funds has left many government bodies unable to operate normally, impacting daily functions and public services.
Cho urged supporters to mobilize and assist friends and relatives in other cities and counties to help advance the second-stage signature drive for the nationwide recall campaign, led by citizen groups aiming to remove KMT legislators in more than 30 electoral districts across Taiwan.
All six DPP legislators elected from Tainan’s six electoral districts joined Cho at the event, with each taking turns to address the crowd, calling for support in the recall effort and condemning KMT and TPP lawmakers for cutting the fiscal budget.
Also at the rally were Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲), Minister of Culture Li Yuan (李遠) and Deputy Minister of Education Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅).
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
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,
RSS