President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had yet another close encounter with a flying shoe hurled by a protester yesterday as he attended this year’s Taipei Hakka Yimin Festival in Taipei.
Although Ma had security personnel surrounding him at the time, the shoe flew over the guards and landed beside his foot as he was leaving the venue. He was not hurt.
Ma also had his speech at the festival disrupted as a protester demonstrated against the government’s land expropriation through forced demolitions in Miaoli County’s Dapu Borough (大埔), shouting “Ma, step down” before being carried away by police officers.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
In recent weeks, Ma has been dogged by protesters during his appearances and therefore his security personnel have been increased and nets have been prepared to block objects hurled by protesters.
On Saturday morning when Ma attended an event in Keelung marking the National Taiwan Ocean University’s anniversary, a Keelung City councilor hurled a shoe at Ma. The shoe missed him.
That evening, when giving the opening speech for the National Games Taipei 2013 at Taipei Arena, an audience member also threw a shoe toward the stage. Again, he was unharmed.
In related developments, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said it is considering setting aside an area outside the venue where its party congress will be held next month as a place where it can hear the views of and accept petitions from unregistered protesters.
Party officials who declined to be named said that Ma, who doubles as KMT chairman, respects the right of people to protest and is seeking a middle ground that will uphold such rights while ensuring that the meeting goes smoothly.
The party had planned to convene its National Congress in Taipei on Sept. 29, but postponed it after learning that more than 40 civic groups intended to hold a large-scale anti-government rally that day outside the National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.
The KMT later decided to move the meeting to Greater Taichung on Nov. 10.
It is now considering ways to accommodate the protesters while holding the congress without disruptions, including setting up an area for groups without permits to protest.
Several groups are expected to apply for protest permits to voice their discontent and general dissatisfaction on a number of fronts, including the economy and a controversial services trade agreement with China.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS