President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday honored the 30th anniversary of the first direct presidential election in Taiwan, calling on the legislature to pass a special defense budget to “safeguard” the country’s democracy and freedom.
In a social media post, Lai said that March 23, 1996, was the day the people of Taiwan “bravely went to the polls and cast their historic votes,” electing their own president and becoming “the true masters of our country.”
In the run-up to the election, Lai recalled, China launched missiles into the Taiwan Strait and held military exercises, attempting to intimidate Taiwanese and prevent them from going to the polls.
Photo: Screen grab from President William Lai’s Facebook page
Although some people at the time warned that direct presidential elections were a “provocation” against China and could trigger a war, Taiwanese nevertheless cast their votes, “opening the door to freedom and democracy for the next generation,” he said.
Lai said that if the people had given up 30 years ago, “viewing their right to freedom as a provocation against authoritarianism,” there would be no democratic and prosperous Taiwan today.
“It was their courage and perseverance 30 years ago” that has allowed Taiwan’s vibrant,
Photo: Screen grab from the party’s Facebook page
democratic growth, he said.
Today, “everyone must have the same courage to continue to walk confidently and firmly on the path of democracy,” he said.
In closing his message, Lai said yesterday the Legislative Yuan began reviewing the government’s proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$38.95 billion) special defense budget.
Just as some used to say direct presidential elections were a provocation against China, some say now that “as long as there are compromises with authoritarianism, there is no need to strengthen national defense,” Lai said.
“However, the answer to this was already given to us by the people of Taiwan 30 years ago,” he said. “Democracy is never a provocation; only determination, perseverance and strength can safeguard” democracy and freedom.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS