A hundred bald men ran a race yesterday to kick off President Chen Shui-bian's (
The race, held a day after the country's largest-ever protest against China, signified a play on words, since the Chinese for "referendum" is similar to the phrase "bald head."
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
The "Referendum 100" campaign follows Saturday's massive demonstration in which an estimated 2 million Chen supporters formed a human chain spanning the length of Taiwan to protest against China's pointing of nearly 500 missiles at the nation.
Analysts say the peaceful rally was Chen's best chance of boosting voter support in his difficult battle with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Opinion polls last week had shown Chen and Lien running neck-and-neck, with a crucial fifth of voters still undecided.
"The Taiwanese people have expressed their incomparable will and determination to protect Taiwan's territory, sovereign status, democracy and economic prosperity, and to protect peace in the Taiwan Strait," Chen said yesterday.
"On February 28, we joined hands. On March 20, we must take part in the referendum to save Taiwan," Chen said at the launch of the new "Referendum 100' campaign.
Chen said the "1" stood for his candidate number and the two zeros symbolized the two questions the referendum asks.
Voters will be asked whether Taiwan should increase its anti-missile defenses if China refused to withdraw its missiles, and if the two sides should open talks on forming a framework for peaceful and stable ties.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
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