With songs, chants, speeches and clashes, tens of thousands of people demonstrated at several locations near the Presidential Office Building on Double Ten National Day yesterday, calling on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to step down.
While different groups of demonstrators had different appeals — ranging from the fate of the country’s Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), to the government’s handling of an improper lobbying case allegedly involving major political figures — the call for Ma to step down was the common theme.
“A president who violates the Constitution like Ma should be ashamed of hosting a national day celebration,” said Dennis Wei (魏揚), a National Tsing Hua University graduate student and a member of a student group called “Black Island National Youth Front,” sitting in front of a line of police officers in front of the Presidential Office Building.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
He was referring to the Special Investigation Division’s alleged illegal monitoring of lawmakers’ telephones as well as Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming’s (黃世銘) report to the president on information gathered through wiretap.
Wei also accused the government of favoring large corporates by signing the cross-strait service trade pact and disregarding the suffering of ordinary people.
“The ruling elite headed by Ma and Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) has lost its legitimacy and should therefore step down right away,” he said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Although the demonstration in front of the Presidential Office was peaceful, student protesters and the police engaged in serious clashes earlier in the morning when the police insisted that protesters remove a truck carrying loudspeakers, leaving several protesters and officers injured.
At a separate setting, a crowd of protesters rallied outside the Legislative Yuan at a demonstration organized by activist group Citizen 1985, calling for revisions of the Referendum Act (公民投票法), the Election and Recall Act for Public Servants (公職人員選舉罷免法), and regulations on election of legislators at-large to lower thresholds for public participation in the nation’s politics.
“When politicians in a democracy no longer listen to the people, we have the right to express our opinions through referendums, but referendums in this country have become a tool for large political parties. The threshold is so high that the only national referendums that ever made it to poll stations were those proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party, the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] and former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁),” said Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), an associate research fellow at Academia Sinica. “Of course the law needs to be amended.”
It is equally difficult for voters to recall elected officials, as the law also prohibits campaigns for a recall, he added.
“Politicians are allowed to launch election campaigns, but the people are prohibited from launching a recall campaign,” Huang said. “Do the politicians all think we the people are so stupid?”
At the rally, a white flag with a “citizen’s eye” on it was raised as a symbolic gesture to signify that people should take back the sovereignty of the citizenry.
Hu Shih-ho (胡世和), uncle of army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘) who allegedly died from abuse while serving in military, also showed up at the rally, panning the government for its slow probe into the death of his nephew despite Ma’s promises.
“Ma’s approval rating is now a little more than 9 percent, that means the people no longer trust him. Shouldn’t we take the power back from him?” Hu asked.
The crowd responded with a loud “yes.”
Later in the afternoon, the crowd moved to Liberty Square, where small forums were held to discuss various public issues.
Citizen 1985 said the rally drew 60,000 people, while police put the peak number at 10,000.
Separately, another group of protesters gathered outside the legislature, urging the government to hear the people’s call to abandon the controversial Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project, which the anti-nuclear activists said is a huge waste of taxpayers’ money and has been plagued by mishaps that could jeopardize public safety.
Additional reporting by CNA
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS