About 600,000 people are expected to take part in the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) nationwide parades tomorrow, party officials said.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) will both attend the hand-in-hand rally in Taipei County to build up momentum for DPP candidate Luo Wen-chia's (羅文嘉) campaign.
Su and DPP Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) yesterday held a news conference to announce detailed plans for the parades that will be held simultaneously in 19 cities and counties tomorrow afternoon.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
To make sure of retaining the important electoral district of Sanchung (
A human chain will be formed from the Kuantu Bridge (關渡橋) to Showlang Bridge (秀朗橋).
About 100,000 people are expected at the parade in Taipei County, which would make it the biggest campaign activity of the day.
Vice President Annette Lu (
Su urged members of the public to join in the activities and use their votes to give voice to their desire for reform and progress.
Commenting on the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) "anti-corruption parade," which will also be held tomorrow, Su said it was ironic that the KMT would be the party to make the biggest fuss about corruption.
"Not only did the KMT take bribes collectively and systematically when it was the ruling party, each of its nominees has a record tainted by corruption," Su said.
"The KMT's parade is simply a joke. It should examine itself before staging such an activity," he said.
EXCUSES: Beijing is using government and research vessels as a pretext to harass the nation and enter its EEZ, and engage in ‘hegemonic expansion,’ the coast guard said The Coast Guard Administration yesterday said it drove away Chinese oceanographic research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 22 (向陽紅33) from restricted waters after warning it that it was in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Chinese vessel entered restricted waters off the coast of Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳) at 11:35pm on Thursday, the coast guard said, adding that it dispatched the Lanyu patrol vessel and the boat PP-10077 to shadow the Chinese ship and issue radio warnings ordering it to leave. China has no sovereignty over waters off Taiwan’s east coast, Lanyu’s crew told Xiang Yang Hong 22 over the radio, and demanded
BAIT AND SWITCH: Allowing KMT-run counties to sell to China while the threat of abrupt cancelations hangs overhead is another form of coercion, officials said Beijing is using agricultural purchase offers announced during the Straits Forum to deepen Taiwan’s dependence on the Chinese market, a Taiwanese official said yesterday as they criticized the Taitung County commissioner’s participation in the initiative. During the Straits Forum held in Xiamen on Saturday, Chinese officials announced a sales and purchase agreement for agricultural products from some counties led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Taitung County Commissioner Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴), who was barred from attending the event in person by the Mainland Affairs Council, participated via video. Under the agreement, China would purchase atemoyas, pomeloes, tea and grouper harvested in Taitung,
Tropical Storm Mekkhala is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon tomorrow and could come close enough to Taiwan later in the week to prompt a sea warning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2 pm, the storm was located 1,870 kilometers southeast of Taiwan's southern tip and moving west- northwest at 23 km per hour. CWA forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭傑仁) said Mekkhala is expected to continue moving west-northwest through Tuesday under the influence of the Pacific high- pressure system before gradually turning north toward waters east of Taiwan or south of the Ryukyu Islands. The timing and angle of the
Four Taiwanese universities have been ranked among the world's top 200 institutions in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings for next year, the highest Taiwan has ever placed in the category, with National Taiwan University (NTU) achieving its best performance at 54th globally and 17th in Asia. The four Taiwanese institutions in the global top 200 are NTU (54th), National Tsing Hua University (142nd), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (177th) and National Cheng Kung University (191st), the rankings showed. All four universities achieved their highest-ever global rankings this year, QS data showed. National Cheng Kung University entered the top 200 for