The pan-blue alliance yesterday said that it will hold another rally at CKS Memorial Hall tomorrow. The rally could attract as many as 50,000 people, the event's organizers said.
The rally is intended to "show the people's will," since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) disagreed with the pan-blues request to establish special laws regarding the assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (
The conference came after Lin got a phone call from Presidential Office Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (
Chiou said that the Cabinet, after consultation with the Ministry of Justice, decided it would violate the Constitution for the Legislative Yuan to make special laws in order to establish the task forces, according to Lin.
Lin said that Chiou's reply was a clear rejection of the alliance's appeals and proved that Chen was not sincere about resolving the controversy.
"If these substantial problems are not settled, it is meaningless for Lien and Soong to meet Chen," Lin said. Lin and PFP Secretary-General Tsai Chung-hsiung (蔡鐘雄) met with Chiou on Monday to hammer out an agenda for a meeting between Chen, KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜).
But the three did not reach any consensus on the meeting.
"I urge Chen not to underestimate people's will. If Chen and the DPP fail to react to our appeals with positive answers, the people's protests will never end, not even after April 10," Lin said.
The alliance originally decided to launch another demonstration on Ketagalan Boulevard on April 10, but it changed its plan on Wednesday night, deciding that the rally will be held on Saturday at CKS Memorial Hall.
The pan-blue camp said it will not rule out holding another demonstration on April 10.
But Taipei City Police Headquarters' Chungcheng First Precinct yesterday turned down the pan-blues' request to hold rallies on Ketagalan Boulevard and at 228 Peace Park every weekend during April and May.
KMT spokesman Alex Tsai said the pan-blues will keep working on the applications and will communicate with the Taipei City Government, which has the right to approve their applications.
As the rally at CKS Memorial Hall on Saturday has to end before 12pm, Taipei City Government Spokesman Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said the Taipei police will help the CKS Memorial Hall police persuade people to leave, rather than dispersing them when the time is up.
When asked about rumors that KMT Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (
Wang said yesterday that he will remain loyal to the pan-blue camp, and he believed that all KMT and PFP lawmakers share his beliefs.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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