Nearly 500 angry, unemployed laborers, fishermen, college graduates and farmers yesterday appealed to President Chen Shui-bian (
"We want jobs ... we want jobs," the crowd yelled in front of the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon.
"I have been unemployed for 19 months," said Chen Chin-yi (陳進義), chairman of the Jobless Workers' Association.
"There are another 80,000 jobless workers like me in Kaohsiung City, my hometown. We want nothing more than a job for each person to support ourselves and our families. It is so pathetic, isn't it?" Chen Chin-yi said.
The people who attended yesterday's protest came from all over Taiwan.
They said that they decided to stage the activity two weeks before the presidential election because they hoped that this would improve their chances of being taken seriously by the two political camps.
"We are fed-up to the teeth with the political lies of the past four years. The politicians keep promising us that they will do something and that things will get better, but their promises never came true," said Chan Chao-li (詹朝立), a poet and farmer, who was the convener of yesterday's rally. "While they are campaigning for the presidency, we will be more than happy to hear what these candidates can do for us."
Chan said that since Taiwan became a member of the World Trade Organization in 2002, the average income of farmers dropped by 30 percent, and that of fishermen by 50 percent.
In spite of this, the government kept importing products such as rice and fish, he said.
"It only made the situation go from bad to worse. We are not complaining about what the government did, we are complaining that government officials did not do anything to help us or provide a solution," Chan said.
In the meantime, he said, another 137 farm products will be imported to Taiwan next year and the impact on local farm products will definitely become more serious if no improvements or changes are made.
It is their hope that the next president, whoever he will be, will be able to do something to help the unemployed, Chan said.
Su Shan-hsuan (
"It is not that we do not want to work. The fact is that employers do not want to hire entry-level employees. We are just asking for a start. I decided to continue my education because I could not find any chance to start my career," Su said.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS