Protests calling for President Lee Teng-hui's
Yesterday's protests were marked by sporadic incidents of violence and the use of water cannons once again by police trying to disperse the remaining crowd of several hundred.
While protesters said they could accept the results of Saturday's elections, they blamed Lee for the result, claiming he had used Lien Chan
PHOTO:CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
"Lien Chan was used, he was double crossed," said Jack Chang, a KMT member who voted for Soong.
"By making us choose between Lien and Soong, Lee gave us a very difficult decision," said Cathy Chiu, an education researcher. "This let Chen Shui-bian win," Chiu added.
Chang said the only reason why Soong was subject to so many attacks during the election was because, "Lee hates him."
Although the number of protesters had dwindled from a few thousand late Sunday night to several hundred yesterday, there were repeated clashes with police as they stepped up their efforts to disperse the crowd, using water cannons and large flanks of shield-wielding officers
However, as of late yesterday night, police were still unable to get protesters to leave. Pleas by the Taipei City government and police continued to prove fruitless.
Even Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Local media reported yesterday that Mei Chang-kun (
Although President Lee's spokesman said Sunday that Lee would step down from his party post in September, protesters said they would accept nothing less than Lee's immediate resignation and would not leave until that happened.
Graffiti scrawled outside of the Chiang Kai Shek memorial read, "If Lee steps down in September all of the party assets will be stolen."
The KMT headquarters' walls were caked with eggs and with graffiti reading "Step down Lee Teng-hui" and "Lee is a traitor and thief."
One protester, Phillip Yang, said he would try and kill Lee if he got a chance. "It's not that difficult to build a bomb, I can do it," he said, adding, "Lee is a liar."
The protests and pressure appeared to be paving the way for Soong's return to the party. However, Liu Song-fan (
On Saturday night and Sunday day many protesters were waving Soong's campaign flags. But by Sunday evening all of the protesters had switched to ROC flags and by yesterday many were wearing Lien caps and vests. However, the majority of protesters said they had voted for Soong.
Soong said he had no plans to return to the KMT and seek any position or party resources. Soong said that his new party would register sometime within the next two weeks.
He called on those who were protesting to exercise restraint.
In a meeting with Buddhist Master Sheng Yan (
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole