In the wake of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) decision to postpone its party congress that was scheduled for Sunday due to protests planned against President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), a group of protesters from labor unions and civic groups yesterday protested outside the KMT headquarters, accusing Ma of evading public discontent and urging the party to address political strife.
Shouting: “Face the misery of the people, Ma Ying-jeou. Four KMT star politicians, stop blurring the line between right and wrong,” the protesters accused Ma and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) of worsening living conditions for the public amid their political rift, and urged Ma’s possible successors — Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), New Taipei City (新北市) Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) — to resolve the issue for the sake of their own political futures.
“The KMT and these political stars should stop the so-called ‘Respecting Wang and supporting Ma’ approach and start addressing the issue. If they do not separate themselves from Ma and the political rift until next year’s local election, it will be too late,” National Alliance for Workers of Closed Factories representative Wu Yong-yi (吳永毅) said.
Photo: CNA
The alliance will continue to organize anti-Ma rallies, with at least 45 civic groups participating, despite the KMT’s decision to delay the party congress to next month or November, he said.
“We don’t care when or where the KMT’s congress will be held. The protests will go on, and we will follow Ma and the KMT wherever they go,” he said.
Yesterday’s protest was held in response to the KMT’s announcement on Tuesday that it has decided to delay its 19th party congress, which was to begin on Sunday at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, due to civic groups’ plans to hold a rally against Ma there that day.
The party is considering holding the congress at Chungshan Hall on Yangmingshan on Oct. 26, but no plans have been confirmed for the new date and venue.
Ma was unaffected by the protest yesterday as he presided over the KMT’s Central Standing Committee in the building. Dozens of police officers were dispatched to the KMT headquarters to prevent the protesters, of which there were about 20, from entering the building.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) accused Taipei’s police department of “wasting its manpower” protecting Ma, urging the department not to become bodyguards for the president.
She said the KMT has tightened security at the party headquarters since July as more groups took their protests to the venue at the weekly Central Standing committee, and the department sent more than 140 police to the scene at a protest in July.
Hau shrugged off Chien’s accusations, saying police were dispatched in accordance with the size of rallies and protests, as well as protocols regarding the protection of the president and government officials.
Students held a separate protest on the grounds of National Taiwan University yesterday.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS