The Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan yesterday marked the 1,000th day of their sit-in outside the legislature, vowing not to give up their fight for Taiwanese independence and to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty.
“We’ve been here for 1,000 days — this is a record in Taiwan’s history. We will continue our struggle to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty,” the alliance’s convener, Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴), told dozens of people gathered outside the Legislative Yuan in the evening.
Members of the alliance and their supporters launched their sit-in rally in October 2008 after taking part in a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-organized protest against President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
At the time, Tsay and his supporters called for revisions to the Referendum Act (公民投票法), which has a threshold for passage that they say is too high.
Later, in response to a demonstration initiated by college students calling for the abolition of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), Tsay and his supporters added the demand to their list.
As the government had not responded positively to their demands, their protest continued.
Healthy Taiwan Society president Kuo Cheng-tian (郭正典), one of the participants of the sit-in, urged the public not to re-elect Ma next year.
“If the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] remains in power, it will have nothing to fear and will place harsher restrictions on civil rights,” he said. “At that time, we may have our own ‘Jasmine Revolution’ in Taiwan.”
Independent presidential candidate Elleen Huang (黃越綏) also showed up at last night’s rally, where she announced that her presidential bid would be her final political activity.
“I know I am not going to get elected, but I still would like people to sign the petition for me to become an official candidate,” Huang said.
“Each signature you sign for me is a slam on China [and sends the message] that Taiwan wants to remain independent. It’s also a reminder to the DPP of the Taiwanese people’s wishes,” she said.
By law, an independent candidate must collect 250,000 signatures to be on the ballot.
As of yesterday, Huang had gathered 25,000 signatures.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
RSS