After a violent incident occurred in front of the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office early yesterday morning during a protest, Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (
"We should not let the violence carried out by the pan-blue camp after the election set a precedent," Hsieh said at a press conference.
PHOTO: YUTZU CHIU, TAIPEI TIMES
The violence would be a very bad example, which might be imitated by losers in future elections, Hsieh said.
Hsieh urged the city's green-camp supporters to respect the right of the pan-blue camp to seek judicial assistance in clarifying suspicious points about the presidential election, in order to lower the risk of disintegrating the fragile foundation of mutual trust in society.
"The city government will leave all the pan-blue camp's accusations about polling stations to the court to decide," Hsieh said.
Yesterday morning, the Kaohsiung District Court sealed all ballot boxes in Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County. In addition, the court kept all information about electoral affairs, including the name lists of both voters and staff at the polling stations.
On Saturday evening, hundreds of pan-blue supporters lamenting the loss of the election gathered in front of the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office to protest.
Led by Lin Shiang-nung (林享能), in charge of the pan-blue camp's campaign in Kaohsiung, residents sang songs loudly and shouted slogans agitatedly. Some even cried.
Lin listed nine doubtful points to do with the election, urging the government to seal ballot boxes for recounting. He claimed there were irregularities at many polling stations in the city.
A campaign truck rammed into the building's iron gate, injuring some residents and seven police officers on duty. More than 500 police officers were on duty to handle the violent incident. The crowd did not leave the scene until 4am yesterday morning.
Some pan-blue supporters were yesterday still offering evidence and clues about irregularities about the election to their camp's chapter in the city.
Hsieh Hsiu-neng (
Mayor Hsieh stressed that it was time for the city's residents to reveal their democratic self-discipline.
"At this moment, the foundation of mutual trust in our society is relatively fragile. Both sides have to respect each other in order to mend the cracks in society," Hsieh said.
He said that his planning for the city's future development would further receive support from the central government because the DPP remains the ruling party.
Hsieh said that he was sorry to see foreign media reports that Taiwan's political situation would be turbulent.
"In fact, I'd like to urge foreign investors to come to Kaohsiung to seek business opportunities because influential steel-making and petrochemical industries are here," Hsieh said.
Hsieh said that he would urge the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to keep in mind that both camps were supported by more than 6 million voters.
Hsieh believed that listening to different opinions would effectively mend the cracks in society created by the presidential election.
"Let's move on. Most people need a society allowing them to sleep well, eat well and make a profit from real-estate or stock market deals," Hsieh said.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS