As Typhoon Nanmadol loomed over the country, President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen yesterday morning called DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (
"In light of the uncertainty related to the rare typhoon, which is the first typhoon to ever hit Taiwan in the winter, President Chen showed his deep concern about the storm and stressed that preparing for its effects are the paramount concern at this moment," Lee said.
DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (
"Because most of the DPP's top campaign strategists are senior government personnel, they need to monitor for potential disasters caused by the typhoon. Therefore, for the sake of safety, the DPP decided to cancel the 100,000-person march scheduled for Taipei City," Chang said.
Lee said that the campaign rally in which former president Lee Teng-hui (
But whether to cancel the DPP's other march that is planned for Taichung City tomorrow will depend on the typhoon, Lee said.
Meanwhile, the parade scheduled for tomorrow by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) in Taipei City to promote the creation of a new constitution and the rectification of the country's official name will occur as scheduled, a TSU official said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which is planning a 100,000 person-strong rally in Taipei Sunday, said yesterday that it would wait on the weather to make a final decision about its campaign-events schedule this weekend.
While saying that the KMT was not afraid of either rain or wind, KMT spokesman Chang Jung-kung (
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique