Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
"The purpose of all demonstrations is the expression of different opinions, and should not be achieved through violence," he said yesterday when attending a municipal event.
Stressing that Taipei's police department was "fully prepared" to maintain order at the demonstrations, Ma promised police would quash "any non-peaceful acts."
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING,AP
While he declined to confirm whether he would make an appearance at next month's sit-in protest organized by former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Shih Ming-teh (
Ma is scheduled to give a report in Taichung on the party's "Chen resign" efforts in the middle of next month. The report will review the 1,500 signature drives the party has launched around the country as part of its "Safeguarding Taiwan with no corruption" campaign since its Chen recall motion failed in the legislature in late June.
The KMT says the signature campaign will be completed before Sept. 19, when the legislature reopens after its summer recess.
KMT spokesman Huang Yu-chen (
"But we are encouraging party members to join the sit-in as individuals," he said yesterday at the KMT's headquarters.
Ma and many KMT legislators have donated NT$100 to Shih's sit-in fund.
In related news, media reports said yesterday that Taipei police authorities have refused permission for Shih's sit-in to be held around the clock. The reports said that the Taipei Police Office's Chungcheng Division has only given permission for the Sept. 12-15 sit-in to be staged between the hours of 9am and 10pm, after taking into account traffic requirements and social order.
Asked about the reports, Ho De-fen (賀德芬), spokeswoman for Shih's camp, told the Central News Agency that the campaign organizer has not yet been informed of the reasons why permission for a "24-hour" sit-in from Sept. 11 to Sept. 23 in front of the Presidential Office was denied. She said the organizer would appeal the decision.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
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