With the pan-blue camp's post-election protests going into their sixth day, some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters have begun urging people to attend the rallies -- and eat the free food being served there to protesters.
In a widely circulated e-mail, DPP supporters asked recipients to fight "black gold" by eating as much of the pan-blue camp's free food as possible.
Pan-blue protesters at the rallies are provided meals and snacks throughout the day -- although former DPP chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (
The e-mails includes descriptions of the food available at the rallies.
"In addition to three square meals a day, you can expect snacks, including instant noodles and steamed buns. The box lunches that are being distributed contain mostly either chicken or pork," one e-mail reported.
Vermicelli noodles served by Lien Fang Yu (
The appearance of various TV and music celebrities, the presence of several snack and soft-drink vendors and the waving of flags have helped to give the protests a festive atmosphere.
"You'll need to pay for your own transportation, but everything else is paid for [at the rallies]," one DPP supporter told reporters.
"Eating the `black-gold' party out of business," as the e-mail puts it, has become a sort of humorous counter-initiative in the post-election turmoil.
Though some DPP supporters are attending the rallies for the free food, other DPP supporters have decided to attend the rallies in order to voice their opinions.
Yesterday morning, a woman who identified herself as a senior member of the DPP took the stage to defend President Chen Shui-bian (
"A-bian (
The crowd of protesters, however, shouted for her to get off the stage and an angry male pan-blue supporter seemed to be on the point of assaulting her before he was dragged away by the police.
Early Wednesday morning, a young man threw eggs at People First Party Taipei City Councilor Lee Hsin (
The man was quickly attacked and beaten by several pan-blue supporters before the police led him away.
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
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
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