Hundreds of Tainan residents yesterday gathered in front of Tainan County's Chi Mei Medical Center to show their strong support for President Chen Shui-bian (
After both Chen and Lu arrived at the hospital, pan-green supporters grew in number, waving flags and banners. Watched by hundreds of police officers, they stood outside the hospital' s emergency room, shouting "Elect A-bian!" The supporters condemned the shooting, with some crying out and demanding justice for Chen and Lu.
During the five hours Chen and Lu were in the hospital, local political figures visited them to express their commiserations.
"It' s not the time to evaluate the electoral situation but to consider the issue of national security," Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (
"How could a terrible thing like this happen? This incident comes just as the people are at the end of their patience," Tainan County Councillor Lin I-chin (
At the time they had been waiting for the green-camp candidates to reach Yungkang township, adjacent to Tainan City.
But Yungkang's pro-DPP residents soon headed for the hospital, where the crowd's grief and indignation was becoming more pronounced. When the cancellation of campaign rallies in southern Taiwan was announced, more pan-green supporters descended upon the hospital.
Chen and Lu left the hospital at 7:10pm under heavy guard.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
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