00:00President Lighting Does plans for a crucial national security briefing have fallen through.
00:06It was a meeting that had been several weeks in the making, but opposition party leaders refused to join.
00:12Our reporter Leslie Liao joins us now with more on this.
00:15Leslie, what was this briefing meant to be about, and why didn't it happen?
00:49And opposition Guomindang chair Eric Zhu and smaller Taiwan People's Party chair Huang Guocang both said that they would not attend.
00:58Apparently, there were some disagreements over the format of the meeting and items on the agenda as well.
01:05Originally, this meeting was supposed to break the ice between Taiwan's ruling and opposition parties, which are feuding intensely right now.
01:13President Lai Ching De first proposed this briefing during a speech on his one-year anniversary in office.
01:20Now, the presidential office has expressed regret at the opposition leaders' decision, but they say that the door for communications continues to be wide open.
01:29So, Leslie, why did the opposition turn down the invitation?
01:34So, one of the reasons that TPP chair Huang Guocang gave was that he didn't want this briefing to be just about national security.
01:47And there were also disagreements about whether the meeting should be open door or closed door like the presidential office wanted.
01:54Another big issue looming over this national security briefing, though, is Taiwan's ongoing mass lawmaker recall campaigns.
02:02Civic groups have launched recall campaigns against dozens of KMT lawmakers.
02:08And those campaigns are expected to go to a public vote in a few weeks.
02:12But KMT chair Eric Zhu specifically said that he wants these recall campaigns called off if there's going to be substantive cross-party talks.
02:22Lai,总统,用你最大的智慧,用你最大的智慧,去化解大霸民,才是朝野对话的最重要的一个基础.
02:36The DPP held its own press conference on Wednesday morning, saying that the opposition threatens national security by blocking legislation meant to bolster Taiwan's defenses.
02:49And a DPP lawmaker actually responded to opposition leaders' unwillingness to attend the briefing in a colorful manner.
02:57Lai,总统,用你来做国安简报,邀请在野,在在野董,大家听一个国安简报.
03:06还请我们来直播,我告诉你,如果要直播,你们都要来啦。
03:10要直播,就要公开国安简报报报道,全台湾,包括阿共和習近平都看得到。
03:16Despite those strong words, though, both the KMT and the presidential office have expressed willingness to continue to communicate.
03:27So even though this meeting didn't go through on Wednesday morning, there's still hope that the frigid relations between opposition and ruling parties can thaw.
03:37Thanks, Leslie. That was Leslie Liao live from our Taipei newsroom.
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