On Friday, the eve of the presidential election, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will hold a series of "light up Taiwan" campaign activities around the nation as a grand finale to President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) re-election bid.
The activity will involve four large campaign rallies to be held simultaneously in Kaohsiung, Taichung, Taoyuan and Taipei.
People at the rallies will be asked to bring things such as flashlights, fluorescent sticks and firecrackers for a light show at 8:08:08pm as the climax of Chen's campaign.
DPP Deputy-Secretary General Lee Ying-yuan (
"This is Taiwan's first time to hold a referendum, and we want the world to see clearly our work here," Lee said.
As well as highlighting the importance of the referendum, the "light up Taiwan" campaign was also aimed at "wiping out the `black-gold' politics" of Chen's opponents, Lee said, referring to political corruption.
Former president Lee Teng-hui (
Of the four rallies, the DPP views the one in Taipei City as the most important.
The party is hoping to attract a half a million people people to Taipei's Chungshan Soccer Stadium to counter the pan-blue camp's rally of 300,000 people at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall the same night.
Chen and Lu are expected to tour the rallies in Taichung, Taoyuan and Taipei on Friday night. Lee and Taipei County Commissioner Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) will participate in the rally in Taipei, DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) will supervise the rally in Taoyuan, Premier Yu Shyi-kun will manage Taichung's rally, and Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and first lady Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍) will rally for Chen in Kaohsiung.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS