The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday mobilized nearly 500,000 people from southern Taiwan to march in Kaohsiung's streets to campaign for President Chen Shui-bian's (
"This is the last battle between native power and alien authority," former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said during last night's rally. "This will be the end for those conservative forces in Taiwan, who have irrationally attacked President Chen -- the son of Taiwan -- in their attempt to steal back political power."
Commenting on the pan-blue camp's rally yesterday for opposing Chen Shui-bian, Lee said that the Taiwanese people have had enough of the conservative forces echoing China with their threats.
"Their influence will be completely eliminated, because the waves of democracy are unstoppable and will spread in each generation," Lee said. "We should not be scared by the final flailings of the alien authority. We must unite and strengthen our resolution to sweep it away from Taiwan."
Lee's remarks and appeals earned excited applause from rally participants and brought the rally to a climax.
The DPP's heavyweights also made speeches to encourage supporters to safeguard their hard-won power, as embodied by Chen's administration, saying that a completely democratic Taiwan will be the ultimate hope for China.
"Only with the success of the referendum can the entire world realize what Taiwan's people really want," said Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷). "Only the success of Taiwan's referendum can be a beacon for the people of China toward a democratic future."
To taunt the pan-blue camp's vice presidential candidate, James Soong (
"Unless Soong is willing to kneel to the Beijing authority and ask China to withdraw its ballistic missiles targeted at Taiwan, then we have no idea why a politician should have to kneel or cry so much," Hsieh said.
Countless supporters gathered in Kaohsiung beginning at noon yesterday and launched parades from four locations.
The contingent of marchers crowded streets and yelled slogans such as "Believe in the People and Believe in Taiwan" and "Vote for A-bian." They waved banners, flags and placards to express their support for Chen and the referendum. Even teams of motorcycles and cars joined the march, lending the rally a carnival-like atmosphere of chaos and excitement.
"Our 228 Hand-in-Hand rally was like a carnival to open our minds and invite everyone to guard Taiwan," Chen said. "But the pan blues at their 313 Rally just made fists and showed angry faces.
"2000 saw the historic peaceful transfer of power. Now we are going to see another historic event in realizing the referendum," Chen said.
"The 228 Hand-in-hand rally showed how Taiwanese love their country ... Taiwan's democracy can never be defeated by China's authoritarianism, Taiwan's referendum cannot be defeated by China's missiles," Chen said.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
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‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
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