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A Taiwanese lawmaker caused a major commotion by grabbing a bill and running out of the legislative chamber to prevent it from being passed. The event happened just before President-elect Lai Ching-te was set to take office on Monday. According to reports, the morning session was already heated, with lawmakers shouting and shoving each other even before any votes were cast. The situation escalated when one MP, now nicknamed the “Bill Bandit,” grabbed the bill and dashed for the exit. Other lawmakers chased him, turning the chamber into a scene of chaos. The video was shared by @CensoredMen on X...

The strategy of a "diplomatic truce" with the People's Republic of China implemented by President Ma Ying-jeou and his Kuomintang government faces its severest test yet in the wake of the election of leftist television journalist Mauricio Funes as president of El Salvador last weekend. The triumph by Funes, the candidate of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, a former revolutionary guerrilla movement, over former National Civic Police director Rodrigo Avila of the far-right ARENA (Nationalist Republican Alliance) by a 51.3 percent to 48.7 percent margin March 15, ends 20 years of consecutive ARENA. Since winning the race, Funes has...

Following its lopsided victory in the legislative elections of Jan. 12, Taiwan's Nationalist Party (or Kuomintang) has nailed down control of that vital island by electing its candidate as president of the Republic of China for a four-year term. This has been hailed in some American quarters as a victory for those who favor an accommodation between Taiwan and Beijing, but don't be deceived. The Kuomintang was Sun Yat-sen's party, which lost control of the mainland to the communists in 1949 but has maintained itself on the staunchly independent island of Taiwan ever since. Eight years ago, it lost control...

Article written on 20th about an asset mgr investing in Taiwan because he is sure KMT candidate Ma will merge Taiwan's market with China. Bloomberg link

Taiwanese are now weighing up the impact of the weekend's landslide electoral victory to the Opposition Party, the Guomindang, which promises to build stronger relations with mainland China. It is a blow to those who want formal independence from Beijing and a more independent Taiwan. Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has taken full responsibility for the weekend's loss and has also resigned as chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party won only 27 seats in Taiwan's new 113 seat assembly. The party, which had been pushing for a seat at the United Nations and formal...

(please see article at link) With all votes counted, the official Central Election Commission said the Nationalists had won 81 seats in the 113-seat legislature, against only 27 for the DPP, with four going to Nationalist-leaning independents, and one to a Nationalist satellite party.

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's main opposition Nationalist Party (KMT) thrashed the ruling DPP in legislative elections on Saturday, strengthening its bid to recapture the presidency in March and heralding better relations with China. With all the votes counted, the KMT had won 81 seats in the 113-member parliament, or 72 percent, according to the Central Election Commission. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party won just 27 seats, or 24 percent, the rest going to other parties. Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan's president since 2000, resigned as DPP chairman when the magnitude of his party's loss became clear, saying he should take responsibility for...

As many as 62 percent of university students in Taiwan think former Chairman Ma Ying-jeou of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) will win the 2008 presidential race and 67.5 percent of them oppose dismantling the walls surrounding the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park in Taipei. These are among the major findings of the latest poll of students attending higher learning institutions on the island conducted by the World Leadership Education Foundation in Taiwan and the Leadership Education Society at the National Taiwan University. Ma currently enjoys a sizable lead over all other presidential hopefuls as shown in most other major public opinion...

Ma's red-carpet treatment in US a snub to Chen The Straits Times Publication Date : 2006-03-25 The scene was replayed throughout the day on Taiwanese TV news: US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick walking through the main entrance of Washington's Metropolitan Club for a meeting with Taiwanese opposition leader Ma Ying-jeou that neither side had acknowledged publicly. Zoellick's public appearance on March 22 was unusual because Washington's contacts with visiting Taiwanese politicians or officials have always been conducted away from the glare of the media. So in according this special treatment to the Kuomintang (KMT) leader, Washington was openly...

"No thanks, uncle Sam Representatives from an anti-arms procurement alliance yesterday stage a protest in front of the Legislative Yuan, condemning the US for ``bullying'' Taiwan over the purchase plan." PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has welcomed the election of a new leader for Taiwan's main opposition party who rules out independence for the island. A day after the Nationalist Party chose Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou as its new chairman, Chinese President Hu Jintao said he looked forward to his Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalists promoting links between the island and the mainland. The Nationalist Party (KMT) favors closer relations across the Taiwan Strait, in contrast to the pro-independence stance of President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party. The KMT once ruled all of China before losing a civil war...

CROSS-STRAIT TIES: The president said Beijing's attitude has not changed and he wouldn't meet with Beijing's leaders if it meant compromising Taiwan's national interests CNA AND AP , TAIPEISaturday, May 14, 2005,Page 1 President Chen Shui-bian (’…G) said yesterday that he will hold talks with China only on condition that he can protect Taiwan's national sovereignty and the interests of the 23 million people of Taiwan. Chen, who made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Formosa TV, also questioned the meaning of a visit to China that might demand that the nation's leadership accept some conditions set by Beijing....

TOEING THE LINE: US government officials are now in agreement regarding Lien Chan's meeting with the Chinese president, saying that Beijing must speak to Chen By Charles Snyder STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON Sunday, May 01, 2005,Page 1 Advertising The US State Department has fallen into line with the White House in urging China to talk directly with President Chen Shui-bian (’…G) to settle cross-strait issues peacefully, according to statements made by US officials. Meanwhile, the White House again expressed the hope that the meeting between Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (˜AD) and Chinese President Hu Jintao (ŒÓ‹ÑŸ·) will...

 Japanese paper tells China not to divide TaiwanCNA , TAIPEI Thursday, Apr 28, 2005,Page 1 The mass-circulation Japanese daily Mainichi Shimbun urged China yesterday not to use Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's visit as a "political tool to divide Taiwan." Instead, Beijing should use the historic meeting between Lien and President Hu Jintao, the general-secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as a "strategic tool to enter into peaceful dialogue with Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party [DPP]," the daily said in an editorial. If the KMT-CCP summit can develop into cross-strait dialogue -- that is, the resumption of...

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/160b7bbc-b183-11d9-8c61-00000e2511c8.htmlTaiwan's opposition leader to meet China's HuBy Kathrin Hille in Taipei Published: April 20 2005 11:43 | Last updated: April 20 2005 11:43Lien Chan, chairman of Taiwan's opposition Kuomintang, will meet China's President Hu Jintao next week, a move set to force the island's government to make a quick decision on its cross-Strait policy.After China passed an "anti-secession law" enshrining the threat of force against Taiwan, Taipei suspended cross-Strait trade and investment liberalisation. The government wanted political concessions from Beijing in exchange for reviving dialogue. China has disrupted this strategy by taking advantage of Taiwan's internal divisions. By showering...

Chen must respond to PRC maneuvering, analysts say RESPONSE: Intimidation from Beijing has prompted two presidential advisors to tender their resignations. Decisive action from Chen is necessary, observers insist By Huang Tai-lin STAFF REPORTER Sunday, Apr 03, 2005,Page 3 A series of events taking place this week had some political observers expressing concern over a possible emergence of support for Beijing in Taiwan in the wake of China's newly-enacted "Anti-Secession" Law. Noting the controversial visit a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) delegation made to China two days after hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese took to the streets to oppose the Anti-Secession...

KMT has secret deal with Beijing: DPP ALLEGATIONS: The head of the DPP's legislative caucus said he had evidence that the KMT had made a deal with China's Communist Party By Ko Shu-ling STAFF REPORTER Thursday, Mar 31, 2005,Page 3 Democratic Progressive Party legislative caucus Secretary-General Chen Chin-jun points to a chart at a press conference yesterday. Chen said that if the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) signed any peace agreement with the Chinese Communist Party without the consent of the government, it would be considered in violation of Article 113 of the Criminal Code. PHOTO: LIAO CHENG-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES The...

Beijing, Mar 4 (Prensa Latina) Chinese President Hu Jintao reasserted here Friday that his country will keep on making efforts to reach the peaceful reunification of China, but without permitting the independence of Taiwan. Hu Jintao, Head of State and Secretary General of the Chinese Communist Party (CPCh), talked about the topic before a group of delegates attending to the annual session of the Chinese People"s Political Consulting Conference (ChPPCC) in representation of Taiwan, which started Thursday. "We will keep on making our greatest efforts, with our greatest sincerity, searching for peaceful reunification, but we will never tolerate the independence...

MARCH 27, 2004 Taiwan crisis dashes appeal of democracy in ChinaBy LAI HONGYI FOR THE STRAITS TIMES THE legitimacy and appeal of Taiwan's democracy have been critically undermined. At the very moment that the Central Election Commission announced that Taiwan's incumbent President Chen Shui-bian had won re-election by a razor-thin margin of 0.22 per cent over Pan-Blue challenger Lien Chan, his trustworthiness and integrity became immediately in doubt at home and abroad. At home, opposition Pan-Blue supporters question his role in the shooting incident that helped him win tens of thousands of sympathy votes, and they cast doubt on...

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Hours after President Chen Shui-bian was wounded in an assassination attempt, Taiwanese stunned by the attack voted Saturday in an election focused on the military threat from mainland China. Besides picking a president, Taiwanese also voted on a referendum asking if Taiwan should beef up defenses if China refuses to withdraw missiles targeting the territory, and whether to seek peace talks with Beijing. Gunfire hit Chen in the abdomen and Vice President Annette Lu in the knee as they rode through the president's southern hometown of Tainan at midday Friday, waving to supporters from an open-top, red...