Taiwan Nation Alliance convener Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文) yesterday said that members of the alliance’s pro-localization groups will take part in a major rally against President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to be staged by activist group Citizen 1985 on Double Ten National Day tomorrow.
“The alliance has three demands: that Ma step down to take responsibility for causing political turmoil; that the Special Investigation Division [SID] of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office be abolished for colluding with the president in conducting illegal wiretapping; and that the cross-strait service trade pact be blocked,” Yao said.
The first two demands referred to a wiretapping scandal involving Ma, the SID and Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) that has snowballed into a political storm.
Photo: CNA
Ma’s critics have accused him of breaching constitutional information confidentiality regulations by discussing with Huang in person and via telephone details of the SID’s wiretap-based investigation into alleged improper lobbying on behalf of Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) before the case was concluded on Sept. 5.
The rally is to begin with a flag-raising ceremony at 10:10am in front of the Legislative Yuan, during which a specially designed flag will be hoisted in place of the national flag to signify the awakening of citizens’ power.
The Citizen 1985 is to call on the government to reinforce direct democracy by lowering the referendum threshold; rationalize the recall mechanism by lowering the threshold to recall elected officials; let people’s voices be heard by lowering the threshold for a party to receive public subsidies and be awarded a legislator-at-large seat; and say no to back-room deals by renegotiating the cross-strait agreement with China.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Taiwan Society president Chang Yen-hsien (張炎憲) said the service trade deal and the cross-strait negotiations on setting up representative offices were parts of Ma’s ploy to use the “one China” framework to wrap up Taiwan as a gift to China.
“We must work together to block the agreement to protect the people of Taiwan,” Chang said.
Taiwan Friends Association president Huang Kun-hu (黃崑虎) said lawmakers should abolish agencies like the SID that were established by an autocratic government for the purpose of cementing its power.
Huang also warned of the potential negative impact that cross-strait treaty could have on the nation’s underprivileged minorities.
Separately yesterday, representatives from several environmentalists groups in Taipei said they are planning to stage an anti-nuclear rally in front of the legislature tomorrow morning to demand the government halt the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮).
“Only when we become a nuclear-free nation will we dare to celebrate National Day, because with nuclear power plants in operation, we are afraid of national disasters,” Green Party Taiwan member Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) said.
The radioactive waste produced by the nation’s operating nuclear power plants is a serious problem for Taiwan, said Kuo Ching-lin (郭慶霖), chief executive of the Northern Coast Anti-Nuclear Action Alliance.
Kuo said that since the nation is unable to find a permanent depository site for the waste, many Taiwanese are worried that they will have to always live under the threat of radiation leakage accidents.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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