The Alliance to Campaign for Rectifying the Name of Taiwan lodged a protest in front of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) headquarters in Taipei yesterday over the word "Chinese" in the party's name.
Saying that the new year is beginning with many organizations still unreasonably using "Chinese" in their titles, alliance members called on the party and businesses to do away with the "absurd" word.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The pro-Taiwan supporters chanted slogans and carried posters saying, "Taiwanese should be in charge of themselves."
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
In related news, KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
"I will stand with people who love the Republic of China fervently," Lien said.
Lien said he refused the invitation with thanks and that he will attend the event by walking with a crowd to the square in front of the Presidential Office after attending a KMT flag-raising ceremony at 5:50am.
The flag-raising ceremony in front of the Presidential Office takes place at 6am.
Lien, along with his running-mate in the March presidential election, People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), had turned down Chen's invitations over the past three years to participate in the ceremony.
Chen said on Tuesday night that if Lien does show up for the flag-raising event, he would arrange to have the KMT chairman stand next to him.
According to Presidential Office spokesman James Huang (黃志芳), Chen had also instructed staff to contact Lien's and Soong's offices to invite the two party chairmen to the Presidential Office for a brief stay before taking part in the national flag-raising ceremony.
PFP spokesman Hwang Yih-jiau (
"We appreciate President Chen's goodwill, but we do not wish to create a disturbance at such an early hour," Hwang said. "Besides, given that the flag-raising ceremony is an event sponsored by civic groups, it is somehow inappropriate that some get to visit the Presidential Office while others don't."
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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