20041110

NATIONAL DEFENSE: The pan-blue caucuses successfully prevented the pan-greens from pushing the procurement bill through to legislative committee for the fifth time
By Ko Shu-ling STAFF REPORTER
Amid political bickering and protests outside the Legislative Yuan, the pan-blue-dominated Procedure Committee yesterday once again struck down the NT$610.8 billion Special Arms Budget Statute, diminishing the ruling party's hope of pushing it to committee for review before the legislative elections next month.

People First Party (PFP) Legislator Nelson Ku said that he was willing to exchange his views with former president Lee Teng-hui to establish the truth about his stance on the arms procurement plan.

Lee had accused Ku for being inconsistent in his stance on the arms procurement deal. Ku is one of the vehement opponents of the plan. Lee claimed that Ku was in favor of the project when he served as the commander-in-chief of the navy during his tenure of presidency.

Other pan-blue lawmakers, including Lin Hui-kuan and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator-at-large Huang Chao-shun , took turns expressing their opposition to pushing the budget bill to committee for review.

Well aware of its numerical disadvantage, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) withdrew from the meeting in protest of what it called the pan-blue camp's bullying behavior.

Rumor had it that the KMT caucus was going to allow its members to be absent from the meeting, in order to lower the number of pan-blue lawmakers in the Procedure Committee, thereby allowing the pan-green camp to push the arms statute to committee for review before the legislative elections.

But following the DPP's fifth failed attempt to make progress with the statute at the Procedure Committee yesterday, PFP caucus spokesperson Liu Wen-hsiung said that the ball is now in the Cabinet's court, because it is up to the Executive Yuan to decide whether to withdraw the special bill and budget request.

Aside from criticising the cost of the deal, the pan-blue caucuses object to the government's attempt to simultaneously propose both the statute that would make the special budget proposal legal and the budget plan itself.

The Executive Yuan, however, made it clear that it is impossible for the government to withdraw the budget request.

It also dismissed the pan-blue's allegation that the Cabinet violated the law by jointly presenting the draft bill and budget request to the legislature.

"We proposed the draft bill and budget request in accordance with legislation and budget request procedures. Besides, it's not the first time we have proposed a bill and a budget request together," Chen said.

A QUESTION OF OWNERSHIP: The Chinese Nationalist Party said it was suing the premier for criminal libel, but he said he would love to address the issue in court
By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) announced yesterday that it has filed a criminal libel lawsuit against Premier Yu Shyi-kun for his recent verbal remarks over the party's stolen assets, while the People First Party (PFP) threatened to follow suit.

In response, Yu said that he welcomed the opportunity to look into the matter in a court of law, and repeated that the KMT's assets had been pillaged from the people and the country during its 50-year reign.

"It's clearly a thief calling others thief," he said. "What do you call something that is illicitly acquired? Do they have the guts to say their party assets are not looted?"

Following a suit filed by the Cabinet on Nov. 1 against the KMT-owned Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC), Cabinet Spokesman Chen Chi-mai revealed yesterday that the Cabinet is scheduled to file another suit next week.

Addressing the press conference held at KMT headquarters yesterday morning, KMT spokesman Chang Jung-kung lambasted Yu's recent controversial attacks against the party.

"A Chinese proverb goes: Stupidity can be remedied by diligence. I think Yu might want to consider taking the advice offered by our wise ancestors."

"As the nation's highest administrator, the premier has made a deluge of controversial remarks. I think his so-called `combative Cabinet' should be renamed the `warmonger Cabinet,'" he said.

Chang was referring to the remarks Yu made during his three-country, 14-day diplomatic tour in late August when he said that the communist giant China is secretly mapping underwater terrain in the Pacific in preparation for an eventual naval conflict with the US.

In response to a rally against the Cabinet's proposed NT$610.8 billion (US$18 billion) arms-procurement package in September, Yu again caused an uproar when he said that Taiwan should rely on a Cold War-style "balance of terror" to safeguard national security in the face of intimidation from Beijing.

Chang said that Yu's recent verbal blunders may be derived from his "unimpressive intelligence and qualifications for his post."

"A Chinese proverb goes: Stupidity can be remedied by diligence. I think Yu might want to consider taking the advice offered by our wise ancestors," Chang said.

KMT party lawyer Lin Fu-hung said that the suit is filed to "safeguard the democratic system fought for by our ancestors" and that the party cannot accept the nation's legislative stability being sabotaged by political forces.

Lin also said Yu had committed two "criminal offenses," which were outlined in the party's written complaint, filed last Friday at the Taipei District Office.

One of the "offenses" was during a question-and-answer session on the legislative floor on Oct. 5, when Yu said the KMT's efforts to entrust or sell party assets were aimed at laundering its stolen assets.

"Like any plunder, no matter where it goes, it's still stolen goods, and whoever accepts it is accepting booty," he said.

Another "offense" took place on Oct. 20, when Yu said that the KMT is a group of thieves and called on the party to return its stolen assets.

"[The KMT] is like a housekeeper who came to the master's house with nothing. But 50 years later, the housekeeper has become much better off than the master," Yu said. "When the master finds out that the housekeeper has pocketed some of his possessions and asks for them back, the housekeeper claims to have legally acquired the belongings, and asks the master to provide evidence that the master's belongings are his own."

Another KMT lawyer Roger Lin said that the suit is aimed at reforming Taiwan's political culture, not at getting revenge.

"The lawsuit is well-intended and constructive in nature," Lin said. "It's a friendly reminder that the premier should exercise prudence in his words and actions. If he accuses someone of stealing something, he should provide evidence to prove the allegation."

He also questioned whether the Cabinet's efforts to reclaim the KMT's stolen assets ahead of the legislative elections is a campaign gimmick to garner votes.

The PFP said yesterday that it is getting ready to file a suit against Yu and his "bandit government."

"Since the DPP came to power, it has been intimidating local governments governed by opposition parties," said Hsieh Kong-ping , Cultural and Publicity Department deputy director.

By Chin Heng-wei 金恆煒
People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong , seems to have run out of cards to play. He has to make recourse to the most primitive methods of argument to win votes, tactics that require neither intelligence nor wisdom.

Speaking to gatherings in veterans' villages, he accused President Chen Shui-bian's administration of "not looking after Mainlanders." In saying this, he was playing the ethnic card. In proposing his 60-year cycle theory (60 years between Pearl Harbor and Sept. 11 and that next year would be the 60th anniversary of "retrocession"), saying that Taiwan would be plunged into war if the pan-blue camp is defeated in the year-end legislative elections, he is playing the terror card.

In playing the ethnic card, Soong was consolidating the votes of the Mainlander population. It is worth pointing out that the PFP is constantly accusing Chen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of "ethnic mobilization" but now it is clearly shown that it is the PFP that relies so heavily on the "ethnic vote."

Playing the war card is not a fresh move either. During the presidential campaigns in 2000 and this year, Soong shouted himself hoarse predicting the possibility of war. But Chen has continued to lead his government into a second term, so clearly Soong's terror tactics are just a way of scaring up votes.

He is now back to his old tricks. Clearly he no longer has any other issues to pick a fight over, so he has no choice but to fall back on these insubstantial and insignificant matters. He has nothing else to offer.

Being able to link Sept. 11 with Taiwan's "retrocession" is no common feat. This is what he calls a global perspective, but in this case there is no "Mr. Science" to give him an endorsement. Does Soong think that just by turning himself into a Nostradamus that he can lead the pan-blue camp out of its current difficulties?

In any case, retrocession is part of the party-state discourse created by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), so although such a 60-year cycle might actually exist, it exists only in the KMT's scheme of things, and so if any catastrophe awaits at the cusp of two cycles, then the catastrophe will simply be that of the dissolution of the KMT's party-state. It doesn't take a fortuneteller to predict this, for it is already a matter of fact.

If the pan-green camp wins a majority in next month's elections, that will truly symbolize the final dissolution of the party-state structure, and this catastrophe is something that the pan-blue camp will surely be unable to escape.

It is most amusing to see what is happening now the Taiwan High Court has rejected the pan-blue camp's case over the one issue that they have harped on ever since May 20; namely that the result of the presidential election is invalid. After the judgement was handed down, even a poll conducted by the pan-blue mouthpiece the United Daily News showed that people had lost faith in the issue.

There was nothing for the pan-blue camp to do but to descend to a still more insubstantial "war of words." We now have KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) questioning the source of DPP campaign funds and Soong taking the guise of a second-rate mystic in the belief that his gobbledegook will bewitch the people.

If Soong really is able to see the future, why did he participate in the 2000 elections if he was doomed to failure? And why did he doom himself this year to failure once again, this time even after accepting the lesser role of vice-presidential candidate?

If Soong can't even get his own future right, he can hardly insist that he's right about anything else. Perhaps this is all that he is capable of?

Chin Heng-wei is editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.

EXPLANATION: Japan and North Korea will once again attempt to resolve a dispute over Japanese citizens kidnapped by the North's agents in the 1970s and 1980s
AP , TOKYO

Japanese negotiators traveled Tuesday to North Korea to discuss a dispute over the communist country's kidnapping of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, as calls grow in Tokyo to use economic sanctions to push the talks forward.

Japan wants North Korea to explain what happened to eight kidnapped Japanese who North Korea says died in the North, and to two others Tokyo alleges were abducted. Five other Japanese kidnapped by North Korea were allowed to return to Japan in 2002.

Tokyo will also question the North about dozens of other Japanese it believes may have been abducted to train Northern spies in Japanese language and customs, or to provide them with Japanese identities.

Two previous rounds of talks, held in August and September in Beijing, ended without progress, prompting Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura to accuse North Korea of being insincere and say Tokyo could use economic sanctions to prod a better response.

The two sides were to hold a preparatory meeting after the Japanese delegation arrived in the North Korean capital, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said yesterday. More substantive discussions will be held today, he added. The talks were scheduled to end on Friday.

"Today and tomorrow we'll be able to tell basically what North Korea is thinking and what its attitude will be," Hosoda told a news conference.

Japan expects North Korea to report on an investigation into the whereabouts of the missing Japanese. The Japanese delegation, which includes police experts, will then verify the information, Hosoda said.

Delegation head Mitoji Yabunaka told reporters in Beijing before boarding a plane for Pyongyang that he hoped to speak directly to the head of the North Korean task force investigating what happened to the kidnapped.

"Our team will unite together to find out the truth," Yabunaka said in remarks broadcast on Japanese television.

The national Mainichi newspaper said in an editorial yesterday that proposals to slap economic sanctions on the North will gain momentum in Japan if the talks don't address Japanese concerns.

"North Korea should realize that if there continues to be no solution to the abduction issue, then calls for sanctions will grow not just in the Liberal Democratic Party but also among the Japanese people," the Mainichi said.

A poll by the Yomiuri, another national newspaper, in September showed 68 percent of voters believed Japan should impose sanctions on North Korea if the abduction talks drag on without progress.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il admitted to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2002 that his country kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s.

Japanese officials, however, say mysterious circumstances surrounding the alleged deaths of eight victims raise doubts about North Korea's claims.

RESPECT URGED: The caution from Joseph Wu came after a trip to Beijing by Hsu Hsin-liang, who is running for a seat as an independent
By Joy Su STAFF REPORTER
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday warned China not to take measures to influence the outcome of the upcoming legislative elections, saying that no one should interfere with the workings of the nation's electoral process.

"They [Chinese authorities] understand that a democratic election has its own momentum, and they need to respect that," said MAC Chairman Joseph Wu , citing the results of the last two presidential elections.

Former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Hsu Hsin-liang, now seen as sympathetic to the pan-blue camp, was given a high profile reception during a recent trip to China as the head of an agricultural delegation.

Hsu met with high-ranking officials such as Taiwan Affairs Office chief Chen Yunlin and Hui Liangyu -- the State Council vice premier in charge of agricultural affairs. He was even received at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, a venue reserved for foreign dignitaries.

It is believed that the reception accorded to Hsu was intended to sway the vote in next month's elections.

While the council was only willing to say that it was working to get all the details on Hsu's trip, there is doubt as to whether China's tactics will be successful.

"That the Central Election Commission's regulations on what a candidate can say just goes to show how democratic a nation Taiwan really is," MAC spokesman Chiu Tai-san said.

Aside from warning China against interfering with the elections, the council said it was not worried about the impact of the elections on cross-strait policy. With both political camps seeking a majority in the legislature, Chiu pointed out that China has probably evaluated cross-strait relations under both possible circumstances.

"China is most likely prepared for either outcome. The results probably will not lead to heightened cross-strait tensions," Chiu said.

Wu admitted, however, that he felt a pan-green majority in the legislature would allow for a greater consensus at home and further efforts toward cross-strait dialogue.

Meanwhile, Wu called for patience in efforts to resume talks, saying that domestic turmoil in China necessitated an international environment conducive to resolving recent demonstrations and protests.

According to Wu, China saw close to 60,000 protests last year. He further predicted that given measures to cool down the Chinese economy, more demonstrations would occur.

"Given the civil strife in China, Taiwan must be careful not to become an excuse for China to use force," Wu said, citing the possibility that Taiwan be used to divert attention away from domestic instability.

Cultural heritage
Chung Ren-pi, left, founder of the Hsin-Hsing-Ko Puppetry Troupe, and his son, puppet master Chung Ren-liang, perform at a Council of Labor Affairs conference on passing down traditional arts to the next generation.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUN, TAIPEI TIMES