A hundred bald men ran a race yesterday to kick off President Chen Shui-bian's (
The race, held a day after the country's largest-ever protest against China, signified a play on words, since the Chinese for "referendum" is similar to the phrase "bald head."
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
The "Referendum 100" campaign follows Saturday's massive demonstration in which an estimated 2 million Chen supporters formed a human chain spanning the length of Taiwan to protest against China's pointing of nearly 500 missiles at the nation.
Analysts say the peaceful rally was Chen's best chance of boosting voter support in his difficult battle with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Opinion polls last week had shown Chen and Lien running neck-and-neck, with a crucial fifth of voters still undecided.
"The Taiwanese people have expressed their incomparable will and determination to protect Taiwan's territory, sovereign status, democracy and economic prosperity, and to protect peace in the Taiwan Strait," Chen said yesterday.
"On February 28, we joined hands. On March 20, we must take part in the referendum to save Taiwan," Chen said at the launch of the new "Referendum 100' campaign.
Chen said the "1" stood for his candidate number and the two zeros symbolized the two questions the referendum asks.
Voters will be asked whether Taiwan should increase its anti-missile defenses if China refused to withdraw its missiles, and if the two sides should open talks on forming a framework for peaceful and stable ties.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS