Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) has established a new foundation to promote amending the Referendum Act (公民投票法), the Civil Servant Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and the Constitution so that “Taiwanese people could determine their own fate through a democratic process.”
The People Rule Foundation (人民作主教育基金會) plans to launch its first official event — a march around the nation — in September, beginning in the eastern counties of Taitung and Hualien, the foundation said in its mission statement issued yesterday.
The foundation said that, more than 20 years after the nation’s transformation into a democracy, Taiwanese have found that democracy remains “fragile and incomplete,” as people cannot determine their own futures, and the ones in power have kept that from happening — so their power would be consolidated.
The foundation said that was why it has listed three goals as its mission, including amending the Referendum Act and lowering the high threshold related to national referendums.
The Civil Servant Election and Recall Act is also a target for reform, as it prevents the financially challenged from participating in politics; keeps smaller parties from winning legislative seats and makes recalling incompetent legislators almost impossible.
The foundation said that the nation’s Constitution should be amended because it “no longer fits the need of modern Taiwanese society,” with a poorly designed central government system, an electoral system that favors larger political parties and a design that exacerbates imbalanced development between the cities and rural areas.
“We will try to develop the people’s shared values that they be the master of the country by practicing nonviolent activities... Taiwan’s democracy can be strengthened and deepened only when its people are able to be the final decisionmakers on major policies,” the foundation said.
Officially established on July 4, Independence Day in the US, the foundation said it reflects Taiwanese determination of their pursuit of independence and liberty.
In the upcoming round-the-nation march, participants are to march silently without waving flags or using loudspeakers, the foundation said.
Lin, a lifelong antinuclear and democracy advocate, made his first public appearance — an event organized by the foundation in New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) on Saturday — since he was briefly hospitalized after a seven-day hunger strike against the government’s pro-nuclear policy in late April.
Lin went into a hiatus in his hometown of Yilan County until Saturday.
He has organized at least four round-the-nation marches previously — in 1994, 1997, 2002 and 2009 — for promoting an antinuclear campaign and civil participation in cross-strait negotiations.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary