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.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
RSS