The Junior Chamber International Taiwan (JCI Taiwan) urged the public yesterday to boycott the two upcoming referendums on the country's bid to join the UN, which are set to be held alongside the March 22 presidential election.
Making the call during a news conference in Taichung, Shen Po-chang (沈伯璋), JCI Taiwan vice president in charge of international affairs, claimed the referendums were unhelpful to the UN bid because they are only a tool being employed by the parties to try to influence the outcome of the election.
"Although joining the United Nations is the common desire of the whole nation, we will not be able to fulfil the wish whether the referendums are passed or not," Shen said.
He announced that the group would hold a series of events in Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung and Kaohsiung today to promote their campaign to boycott the referendums to ensure "a smooth path" for the presidential election.
Meanwhile, a parade with statues of local deities aimed at promoting the Democratic Progressive Party referendum on the country's bid to join the UN using the name Taiwan arrived in Taipei yesterday.
The parade, kicked off on Friday in Keelung City, aims to promote the referendum on a 13-day round-the-nation tour.
With six balloon statues of deities widely worshipped, including Matsu (
"We must work hard together to achieve the goal of entering the United Nations through the blessings of the gods," said Tchen Yu-chiou (陳郁秀), secretary-general of the National Cultural Association which organized the tour.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
A man in Tainan has been cleared on charges of public insult after giving the middle finger during a road rage incident, as judges deemed the gesture was made “briefly to express negative feelings.” In last week’s ruling at the High Court’s Tainan branch, judges acquitted a driver, surnamed Cheng (程), for an incident along Tainan’s Nanmen Road in September 2023, when Cheng had spotted a place to park his car in an adjacent lane. Cheng slowed down his vehicle to go into reverse, to back into the parking spot, but the car behind followed too closely, as its driver thought Cheng
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
RSS