The pan-blue alliance's presidential campaign headquarters announced yesterday that it was organizing a series of activities to mark Taiwan's Peace Memorial Day on Feb. 28.
The campaign headquarters of the pan-blue presidential ticket of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Tseng Yung-chuan (
"For the program, 28 road race aces will form a peace torch team to lead residents in various parts of the island in running part of the total distance in relays," Tseng said, adding that the event is aimed at signifying the pan-blue alliance's determination to create a "more stable, more prosperous Taiwan."
Tseng said a detailed scheduled for the run will be announced later.
Meanwhile, Tseng said, Buddhist rituals will be held in Taipei, Keelung Harbor, Taichung, Chiayi and Kaohsiung simultaneously on Feb. 17 to pray for Taiwan's well-being.
A large "chrysanthemum and love" rally will be held on Feb. 28 in Kaohsiung, with 200,000 people carrying chrysanthemums along the coast to greet those who join the last section of the 2,000km run, Tseng said.
A "love and peace" rally will also be held at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall complex in downtown Taipei on the same day.
The Feb. 28 Peace Memorial Day is observed in remembrance of those lost in the unrest and aftermath of the 1947 Kaohsiung Incident, and in hopes of healing the wounds and closing the divisions left by this episode, Tseng said.
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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