More than 1,000 people representing a number of civic and religious organizations, joined a “backwards march” in Taipei yesterday to show their opposition to the construction of casino resorts on off-shore islands.
Lining up behind a big red banner that read: “Save Taiwan from casinos,” the activists began their demonstration in Liberty Square and marched toward the Presidential Office.
When they reached Jingfu Gate (景福門) at the head of Ketagalan Boulevard, they turned around and marched backwards.
Taking part were members of groups representing women, Penghu residents, environmentalists, Christians, Taoists and Buddhists.
“This is the first time in history that so many people have walked backwards at the same time — because we’re worried that casinos would drag the country backwards in terms of the economy, public security, the environment, politics and morals,” said Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳), spokesman of the Alliance against the Legalization of Gambling.
He pointed out that Nevada, the US state where Las Vegas is located, ranks first in suicide and gambling addiction, third in bankruptcy and abortion, fourth in rape cases and alcohol-related deaths and last in voter turnout in presidential elections.
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment to the Off-Shore Island Development Act (離島建設條例) in January that allows off-shore islands to build casinos after obtaining consent from a majority of residents in a simplified referendum.
Many local governments have shown an interest in building casino resorts, with Penghu County being the most active.
While the Penghu County Government estimates that casino resorts could attract more than 5 million visitors per year to Penghu and bring in more than NT$2.2 billion (US$63 million) in annual tax revenue, Buddhist Master Shih Chao-hui (釋昭慧) said that Taiwan would pay a much higher price.
“According to US studies, 17 percent of gamblers would become addicted and it takes US$18,000 to treat each of them,” Shih said. “Based on the figures, if 4.5 million gamblers in Penghu are from Taiwan, then we will need to spend NT$45 billion — plus other welfare spending and costs — to treat them.”
Huang Chi-hsiang (黃啟翔), a 28-year-old from Penghu, said only a handful of people — such as big corporations and politicians — would benefit from casinos.
“What would really benefit everyone in Penghu is to develop resort tourism modeled on Hawaii, Bali or the Great Barrier Reef,” he said.
As a casino referendum may be held in Penghu at the end of the year, Huang is worried.
“I know that most people my age are against casinos, but many older people are for them,” he said. “I’m a bit worried because most young people are either working or studying away from home.”
The march ended with a concert on Ketagalan Boulevard.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS