By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said he favored presidentialism as the system of government for Taiwan, because a powerful president is more likely to push vital reforms, the Chinese-language Wealth magazine reported.
Asked to choose between the presidential system and parliamentary system, Lee said in an interview with the magazine that while the latter has advantages and is supported by many, the former would better fit Taiwan.
DISASTER FOR DEMOCRACY:After an endorsement from Ma’s office for ‘asking the right questions’ on Lin Yi-xiong’s hunger strike, Lee Teng-hui then appeared to criticize Ma
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday said his views on nuclear energy and on former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin Yi-xiong’s (林義雄) hunger strike have been “distorted and taken out of context” by a media report.
Lee was quoted in a Chinese-language United Daily News report yesterday as questioning how many people would agree with Lin, a staunch anti-nuclear advocate, and where Taiwan’s electricity would come from if it phased out nuclear power.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to take positive steps to ease tensions triggered by the ongoing student-led protest at the Legislative Yuan, including convening a citizens’ constitutional conference.
Wang, as speaker, should visit the students in the legislative chamber and initiate unofficial dialogues by offering his personal views and by listening to what the students have to say, Lee said at the Taipei High-Speed Rail Station in response to reporters’ questions.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
A “second democratic reform,” which focuses on decentralization, privatization of state enterprises and promoting civil political participation is necessary to address the country’s economic woes and stalled political reform, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said yesterday.
Lee, who helped orchestrate Taiwan’s democratization in the early 1990s, later described as the “silent revolution,” said it was time for Taiwan to take another giant step forward to lift the country out of the mire.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday concluded his round-the-nation trip with a final stop in Yilan County, saying that his final wish was to visit Yushan (玉山), the highest mountain in Taiwan.
“I’ve asked my doctor about [visiting Yushan] and was told that such trip would not be recommended due to my health condition. I’m hoping that my ashes can be scattered on top of Yushan after I die,” said the 90-year-old in Yilan. “Being buried on Yushan would mean that I would be with Taiwan forever.”
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) was released from Taipei Veterans General Hospital yesterday, 18 days after he underwent a vertebral artery stenting procedure, Lee’s office said yesterday in a press release. Citing Lee’s medical team, office director Wang Yan-chun (王燕軍) said that Lee has almost fully recovered from a post-surgery fever and was released by the hospital even though the cause of the fever remains unknown.
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) will miss a court date for oral arguments scheduled for today over his indictment on charges of embezzling state funds because he is still recovering from a vertebral artery stenting procedure performed on July 12, Lee’s office said yesterday. Lee is still suffering from fever for unknown reasons and has not been released by Taipei Veterans General Hospital although the surgery was a success, office director Wang Yan-chun (王燕軍) said in a press release. The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division on June 30, 2011, indicted the 90-year-old and his aide, Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英), accusing the pair of siphoning off US$7.8 million from secret diplomatic funds to establish the Taiwan Research Institute.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) underwent a successful vertebral artery stenting procedure yesterday and may be released from the hospital if his recovery proceeds smoothly, the office of the former president said in a press release yesterday.
The 90-year-old, who has been hospitalized since Wednesday last week for dizziness, accepted the recommendation of a Taipei Veterans General Hospital medical team and underwent a 90-minute surgery yesterday morning at the hospital, the press release said.
REAL DEAL:Articles added to the ROC Constitution which call Taiwan the ‘free area’ of the ROC reflect the governance and state of the country after 1949, Lee said
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter, in Taitung County
The Republic of China (ROC) Constitution is no longer functioning and the real “Taiwan Constitution” is the 12 additional articles of the ROC Constitution, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said yesterday as he wrapped up a three-day visit to Taitung County.
He made the remark during a stop in Luye Township (鹿野) in response to a reporter’s question about President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) recent comment that, according to the ROC Constitution, cross-strait relations are not state-to-state relations.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter, in Taitung County
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday sought to dispel a rumor that he had been a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) member, saying he had never applied for membership.
“However, to say that I was never involved with the CCP would be an overstatement,” he said when asked about the rumor during a question-and-answer session with reporters during a visit to Green Island (綠島).
MEMORY LANE:The former president said Taiwan had been ‘silenced’ during the Martial Law era, which is why he felt he had to make an apology when he was in office
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter, in Taitung County
Four former political prisoners yesterday shared their stories with former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) at the Green Island Human Rights Memorial Park and said that the nation’s tragic past should be remembered so that democracy and freedom could persevere.
“We came back here as winners, because they [the former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime] did not defeat us. They wanted us to die, but we survived,” said Kuo Chen-chun (郭振純), one of the four.
POIGNANT VISIT:The ex-president is scheduled to attend a forum today with four former political prisoners at the Green Island Memorial Park
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter, in Taitung County
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) is returning to Taitung County’s Green Island (綠島) for the first time in 14 years where he is scheduled to make a symbolic visit to a human rights memorial park today.
As president, Lee helped raise funds to erect a monument in the Green Island Memorial Park to commemorate the thousands of political prisoners who passed through the prison on the remote island during the White Terror era under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime.
Former president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) office said yesterday in a press release that his planned trip to Japan this month has been canceled after a regular medical check-up. The office quoted Lee’s medical team as saying that while the 90-year-old was in fairly good health, they recommended that Lee, who has been hospitalized twice this year, avoid taking long trips. Lee was scheduled to deliver speeches in Tokyo and Zama City in Kanagawa Prefecture. The office said a Japan visit in the future would still be possible if Lee’s health permitted. Lee last visited Japan in September 2009.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday appeared in court for a first hearing after being indicted on charges of embezzling state funds in 2011, saying that he was upbeat about having an opportunity to defend his integrity.
“I am glad that I could speak my mind in court and answer the Taiwanese people’s doubts for the first time in two years,” the 90-year-old said after a three-and-a-half-hour proceeding yesterday evening.
HSINCHU OUTING:The former president said that nuclear energy was not all bad, but he would not vote in the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant referendum
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter, in Hsinchu City
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday said Taiwan could not afford to abandon nuclear power in the near future and should enhance its nuclear energy program by developing advanced technologies, such as nuclear fusion.
“Taiwanese scientists should work on nuclear fusion research and engineering to explore new methods to replace current technologies, which are based on nuclear fission, and are a by-product of the Manhattan Project developed during World War II,” Lee said on the second day of a two-day visit to Hsinchu County.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter in Hsinchu City
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday confirmed that he would visit Japan next month, health permitting, and said that an all-out war waged by North Korea was unlikely.
Kyodo news agency reported yesterday that Lee, 90, would travel to Japan and deliver speeches in Tokyo and Zama City, Kanagawa Prefecture.
By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Chris Wang / Staff reporters
Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien yesterday weighed in on former president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) family amid controversy caused by a Control Yuan report that said that Lee was the illegitimate child of a Japanese man.
Wang said he was of the opinion that the identity of Lee’s father should be clarified because “there have been endless rumors” about it.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Former president Lee Teng-hui is escorted by bodyguards yesterday on his way to the Taipei District Court for a pre-trial procedure after he was indicted in 2011 on charges of embezzling state funds.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday appeared in court for a pre-trial procedure after being indicted on charges of embezzling state funds in 2011. Lee did not comment on the trial.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The office of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday denied a report depicting Lee as the mastermind behind Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent policy to depreciate the yen.
The Chinese-language Next Magazine yesterday reported that Lee had regularly given Abe advice, including on depreciating the yen, since the Japanese leader’s meeting with him in September 2011.
NEW HOPE:The former president praised the public for facing hardships with courage and called for cooperation between political leaders and parties
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) offered encouraging messages for the new year, saying the Year of the Snake would be a better year.
DPP headquarters and the offices of Lee and Tsai released pre-recorded video messages on the video-sharing Web site YouTube ahead of the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday, which begins today.