The newly-formed No War Home-land Alliance said yesterday that it is seeking to hold a referendum on the NT$618 billion (US$18.07 billion) arms procurement budget pending approval in the Legislative Yuan.
The referendum push marks the latest increase in public opposition to the budget, which has been passed by the Executive Yuan. It proposes to spend the money over 15 years.
"We are not against national defense; we are against a budget which proposes taking money away from future generations of Taiwanese," alliance head Chou Sheng-hsin (
The group is calling for a referendum on two questions. The first would read: "I object to the government paying for arms purchases by selling national land, taking on debt or selling government shares in national industries [yes or no]."
The second reads: "I agree that the government should enter equal-status negotiations to arrange a 50-year peace agreement to maintain the status quo to benefit people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait [yes or no]."
The group is opposed to selling government assets or accumulating debt because it would hurt the welfare of the people, Chou said.
"If there has to be an arms budget, then we suggest levying a national tax. That way the government would have to get the approval of the people before initiating the budget," Chou said.
"We want the status quo. Hopefully, in 50 years, there will have been enough generational or ideological change for further consideration of the problem of Taiwanese independence," Chou said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
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