On Friday, the eve of the presidential election, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will hold a series of "light up Taiwan" campaign activities around the nation as a grand finale to President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) re-election bid.
The activity will involve four large campaign rallies to be held simultaneously in Kaohsiung, Taichung, Taoyuan and Taipei.
People at the rallies will be asked to bring things such as flashlights, fluorescent sticks and firecrackers for a light show at 8:08:08pm as the climax of Chen's campaign.
DPP Deputy-Secretary General Lee Ying-yuan (
"This is Taiwan's first time to hold a referendum, and we want the world to see clearly our work here," Lee said.
As well as highlighting the importance of the referendum, the "light up Taiwan" campaign was also aimed at "wiping out the `black-gold' politics" of Chen's opponents, Lee said, referring to political corruption.
Former president Lee Teng-hui (
Of the four rallies, the DPP views the one in Taipei City as the most important.
The party is hoping to attract a half a million people people to Taipei's Chungshan Soccer Stadium to counter the pan-blue camp's rally of 300,000 people at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall the same night.
Chen and Lu are expected to tour the rallies in Taichung, Taoyuan and Taipei on Friday night. Lee and Taipei County Commissioner Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) will participate in the rally in Taipei, DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) will supervise the rally in Taoyuan, Premier Yu Shyi-kun will manage Taichung's rally, and Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and first lady Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍) will rally for Chen in Kaohsiung.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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