Five hundred thousand supporters, along with 13 chiefs of state from Taiwan's diplomatic allies, as well as former chairwoman of the American Institute in Taiwan Therese Shaheen will take part in President Chen Shui-bian's (
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) yesterday confirmed that the party plans to invite 500,000 supporters to join the inauguration ceremony, which will be held in a "democratic carnival" style on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office as well as at the nearby 228 Peace Memorial Park and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
According to Lee, 13 heads of state from Taiwan's 26 diplomatic allies have accepted Chen's invitation, while Shaheen, who recently stepped down form her post, has also been invited.
"After the March 19 assassination attempt on President Chen occurred, leaders of our diplomatic allies have all called to express their concern. In return, President Chen has personally phoned them to extend invitations for his inauguration," Lee said.
Lee said the area in front of the Presidential Office could accommodate some 200,000 people, while CKS Memorial Hall and 228 Peace Memorial Park could house up to 300,000 people who will be grouped for participation.
To stage the huge inaugural celebration, the Presidential Office has asked the Taipei City Government to reserve the use of Ketagalan Boulevard for the national event for five days from May 18 to May 22.
The Taipei City Government, which has been troubled in the past few weeks by weekend demonstrations staged by pan-blue supporters in front of the Presidential Office, has agreed to reserve the road for the inauguration, quashing the pan-blue camp's plan to hold another protest against Chen's inauguration on the same day.
The spokesperson for the Taipei City Government, Wu Yu-sheng (
Lee yesterday said that the Presidential Office will deliver a total of 230,000 invitations to supporters, who could register with the DPP's officials to participate in the inauguration ceremony, which is restricted to invitation holders.
"The inaugural celebrations will be held in a `democratic carnival' style, similar to that of the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally, in which participants will be grouped so that the organizer can monitor the order of the event," Lee noted.
Lee also announced that transportation will be offered to supporters.
In addition to inviting the heads of state of its allies, Lee said opposition leaders were also invited, including Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Lien and Soong have previously said they would decline the invitation to attend Chen's inauguration.
Also See Story:
Chien bids MOFA farewell and Chen takes over the job
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS