As the around-the-clock sit-in campaign staged to oust President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) entered its fourth day yesterday, campaign leader Shih Ming-teh (施明德) denied that a consensus had been reached to launch a nationwide strike to increase the pressure on Chen.
Shih, a former Democratic Progressive (DPP) chairman, also condemned Chen for reportedly saying he would not continue to tolerate the sit-in protest if it persisted until Double Ten Day.
Chen's alleged comment appeared in a report published in the Chinese-language China Times.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
"Taiwanese people have tolerated [Chen] for a very long time," Shih said.
On the possibility of a nation-wide strike, Shih said the issue was still under discussion and would not be decided until at least Friday, as his movement's members shared different opinions on the matter.
Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (
He said union leaders told him that they did not intend to take part in such a strike. He also said the ministry was strongly opposed the idea of a nationwide strike.
Perhaps as a result of the changeable weather, with sunshine in the morning giving way to rain in the afternoon, about 10,000 protesters participated in yesterday's protest, according to the Taipei City Police Department.
While protesters greeted Shih as he arrived at the protest site at about 9am, he and other campaign organizers have been criticized by some participants for staying away during the night.
Ho De-fen (
"You just didn't see us," she told the reporters, adding that Shih rested at night to conserve energy.
Shih later participated in "anti-Chen exercises" and appeared on stage to sing protest songs.
Commenting on the protests, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"The protesters should not have any non-peaceful thoughts or intentions," he said.
In response to Shih's suggestion that political leaders, including Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰), People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) and Ma should sit down and talk about the country's future in the "post-A-bian era," Ma said that the KMT was "willing to consider the possibility."
"A-bian" is the president's nickname.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus, however, said Shih's suggestion was "nonsense," adding that Lee would not "dance to [Shih's tune]."
"Shih is nothing but a rascal." TSU Legislator Huang Chung-yung (
Meanwhile, Shih's camp plans to symbolically lay siege to the Presidential Office and the president's official Yushan Residence on Friday night.
The city police department has approved the routes for the "siege" and the five-day sit-in at Taipei Railway Station that is to follow it.
However, police refused the campaign's application to continue the "siege" on Saturday and Sunday because the application was filed too late.
Chang Fu-chung (張富忠), another campaign spokesman, said the protesters would return to Ketagalan Boulevard on Sept. 21.
Ma said the police department would map out a plan to deal with the "siege," and would seek help from the National Police Agency if required.
Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (
"Military personnel should remain neutral when it comes to politics. That's why we are against the idea of the government using the army to police the rally. By the same token, we don't approve of military personnel's participation in the anti-Chen campaign, even though it's their right to participate in a legal assembly when they are not on duty," Lin said.
Soldiers have not, in fact, been used to police the rally.
Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling and Shih Hsiu-chuan
also see story:
Authorities vow to step in if sit-in gets out of control
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS