A petition calling for a referendum on forcing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to return stolen assets to the national coffers will be sent to the government for review, as 83,000 signatures have been collected, making it a formal petition.
"If the petition is approved, we have to collect 830,000 signatures within six months to call a referendum," Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) said at a press conference yesterday.
The DPP lawmakers said they hoped the referendum could be held during the next legislative election in December next year.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Collecting signatures to call for the referendum is aimed at keeping the KMT from avoiding its obligation to return its assets to the nation and the people, Tsai said.
Considering that it took more than two months for DPP lawmakers to collect the first-stage 83,000 signatures, Tsai said it would not be easy to collect 10 times that number within the six-month time limit.
The KMT is scheduled to issue a report today on how the party has handled its assets. The KMT's rivals describe the assets -- which were acquired from the Japanese colonial government and private businesses and individuals when the KMT took control of Taiwan in 1945 -- as "stolen."
DPP Legislator Yen Wen-chung (
Yen said he suspected that the intention behind Ma's decision to issue a report on the party's assets was, "firstly, to shift responsibility for its shrinking assets to former chairman Lee Teng-hui (
also see story:
Assets report just a Ma makeover
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS