The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday reminded Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Moreover, the party asked all supporters to keep away from the rally to avoid conflict, saying that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) may fabricate a bloody incident during the rally and accuse the DPP of resorting to violence.
The DPP said that, according to reliable information, today's rally may get out of control due to the actions of certain elements who wish to incite conflict. Therefore, the party urged Ma to promise ending the rally by the legally permitted time of 6pm.
DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (
"I want all party officials to properly cope with any possible situations, and I warn all party members that those who go to the rally will be severely punished," Chang said.
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (
"We therefore ask the police directly to expel anyone who is wearing clothing with DPP marks from the rally, because they are absolutely not authorized by the DPP," Lee stressed.
Lee, on behalf of the DPP, asked Ma how he could attend the rally as party leader, and at the same time appeal to demonstrators to go home.
"As the mayor, [Ma's] obligation is to ensure the rights of the 2 million residents and the international image of the city. But as the KMT's presidential campaign manager, you have to mobilize supporters. So we are wondering what role exactly you will choose [today]?" Lee asked.
Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), director of the public affairs department of the DPP's campaign headquarters, also displayed documents from the KMT's Taipei City Headquarters, which showed that the party asked supporters to join the rally and demonstration not only today, but also on Monday.
"The KMT's document says that members should attend the rally to 11pm on Saturday, and attend another demonstration on Monday," Cheng said.
"Mayor Ma has given a privilege to those conducting illegal demonstrations in front of the President Office by giving permission to illegal demonstrations three times over the past week," Cheng said. "We hope that there will be no fourth recurrence on Saturday."
Concerning the DPP supporters' increasing anger with the demonstrations by the pan-blue camp, the party yesterday continued to issue advertisements in newspapers to call on supporters to believe in the government and remain silent.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
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
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
RSS