President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) will participate in the parade held by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Saturday, DPP chairman Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday.
The march is to be staged to protest China's unflagging military threats to Taiwan and dumping of cheap goods.
To boost momentum for the march, Su, Yu, Presidential Office Secretary-General Mark Chen (
Although there were some dissenting voices on the parade among the DPP, Yu said yesterday that the party had communicated with those party members and that the majority of the DPP was now supportive of the parade.
DPP Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) also added that the DPP's legislative caucus and Taipei City councilors would mobilize their supporters to join the parade in a display of unity.
Local towel manufacturers will also organize a group to join the parade, Lin said.
Yu said the economy is the top priority for Taiwanese and that it was hard to understand how the economy could benefit from the pan-blue camp bringing up the presidential assassination attempt again.
"A responsible governing party can't be silent when our country is bullied. We cannot stay mute when Chinese leaders keep claiming Taiwan is the territory of the People's Republic of China," Yu said.
"We have to make the world know Taiwan's thoughts. Only with strong democracy can Taiwan have security and a prosperous economy," he said.
As for the attendance of VIPs, Yu said President Chen was "inclined to" participate in the parade, but whether he would march or just give a speech would be decided by the Presidential Office.
Mark Chen said the president would decide on his attendance today and that the vice president would go if Chen decides to do so.
"The chances of President Chen attending the parade are high. As for myself, I have already decided to go," Mark Chen said yesterday.
Su yesterday also announced that he would attend the rally.
When asked whether the US would pressurize Taiwan if the president showed up at the parade, Mark Chen said that "it has nothing to do with the US if the people of Taiwan decide to hold a parade."
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
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
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
RSS