On the campaign trail in Chiayi last night, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) vowed to strive for Taiwan's entry into more prominent international organizations following WTO accession.
"After the WTO, our next goal will be [admission to] the WHO and then eventually the UN," Chen told tens of thousands of local supporters, who responded with enthusiastic applause.
Chen then criticized opposition parties for their "barbaric" cuts in the DPP-led Cabinet's budget for social welfare and urged voters not to vote for KMT candidates.
Promoting the international baseball tournament being held in Taiwan, Chen said Chiayi has contributed a number of talented players to the sport, saying half of the members of the country's best teen baseball team -- the Golden Dragons (金龍隊) -- were from the city.
Chen said that the city, which sits astride the Tropic of Cancer, has also played a core role in the country's democratic development, praising the city as "a sacred land of democracy." He expressed his special thanks to citizens since more than 47 percent of the city's eligible voters had supported him during last year's presidential election.
The party has nominated Huang Cheng-nan (
While endorsing Chai, Chen said that Chai's diplomatic efforts have helped Taiwan break its international isolation. He said that as a result of Chai's efforts, the US has proposed the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act to help defend Taiwan against China.
He added that the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, which Chai once chaired, also used its connections with US politicians to facilitate Chen's stopovers in the US during overseas trips this year and to greatly improve US-Taiwan relations.
Lauding the Cabinet's move on Wednesday to relax the "no haste, be patient (戒急用忍)" policy, Secretary-general to the President Yu Shyi-kun yesterday told the crowd that that the DPP-led Cabinet "has proven to be effective during its rule and the president has come through on his promises" to normalize cross-strait trade relations.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique