President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday kicked off a 10-day walk in Tainan County to solicit support for his party's referendum seeking UN membership under the name "Taiwan."
Chen urged the public to support the referendum and tell the world that Taiwanese desire representation in the UN.
Chen, who spent two hours walking 7km of the 228km event, told the public after the walk that he did not feel tired but thought the activity was meaningful.
PHOTO: CNA
"I hope more people will be inspired to join the activity and help the referendum on joining the UN using the name `Taiwan' succeed," he said.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has proposed holding a referendum on joining the UN using the name "Taiwan," while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has suggested another referendum on "rejoining" the world body under the name the Republic of China (ROC), or any other "practical" title that would uphold the nation's dignity.
The two referendums will be held in conjunction with the presidential election next Saturday.
As the DPP referendum proposal garnered more than 2.7 million signatures in the second phase of petition, Chen called on each of those who signed the petition to canvass three more votes to make the referendum a success.
The referendum requires a 50 percent voter turnout, or approximately 8 million voters, for the results to be declared valid.
Chen urged the public to refrain from harboring any fantasy about China because Beijing's suppression of Taiwan would persist no matter who was in power.
"Beijing is afraid Taiwan's democracy would further deepen," he said. "The past eight years have taught me a lesson: Our destiny is in our own hands, especially during times of adversity. Democracy is Taiwan's best defense against China."
Chen urged the public to say out loud that Taiwan and China are two different countries. His administration has mothballed the National Unification Council and National Unification Guidelines.
"Next, we will carry forward and further develop the values of democracy and use the referendum to tell the world that Taiwan cannot be annexed by China nor is Taiwan one of its local governments," he said.
The march began in Shanhua Township (善化) in Tainan County yesterday morning. Organizers said participants planned to walk through the county's 31 townships and villages in 10 days to drum up support for the DPP's referendum proposal.
Meanwhile, DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) campaign team yesterday urged the public to participate in an activity on Sunday dubbed "saving Taiwan's democracy, 1 million people high five."
Former National Youth Commission chairwoman Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) called for the support of the younger generation.
"In the second half of the ninth inning, I urge the young people to come out and help us win this game," Cheng said.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
RSS