In order to prepare for National Double Ten Day celebrations, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
The boulevard is expected to be occupied with protesters taking part in an anti-President-Chen-Shui-bian (
"It has nothing to do with blue or green [camps]. Because we need to start working on the celebration ceremony, construction would be delayed if the protesters are still there," said Wang, who is head of the ceremony preparation team.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Lee Shu-chuan (
Lee said the department had granted the Shih camp's permission to use the boulevard until Sept. 27, while the police gave it parade permission until Sept. 20.
However, Lin said officials agreed yesterday to expand the demonstration area from the Ketagalan Boulevard to Renai Road and Xinyi Road on Saturday and Sunday, as the protest organizers plan to form a compass image -- inspired by the Nazca Lines in Peru -- in the area.
Lee said the organizers applied for the extension yesterday and it was granted, but only for the weekend.
"We also consulted with the police and traffic departments, and they will map out traffic rules during the weekend," he said.
Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-teh (
"We don't have to be so nervous about the distant future," he said.
Shih noted that as others have obtained permission to use Ketagalan Boulevard on Sept. 16, he may lead his supporters on a "candlelight march through Taipei" the night of Sept. 15. He refused to say, however, where the candlelight march would go.
Meanwhile, Ma dismissed media allegations that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would be a "loyal opposition party" from now on and that he would not try to topple the Cabinet. The KMT chairman said he never made such remarks.
According to a China Times story yesterday, Ma was planning to announce on Saturday that the KMT would be a "loyal opposition party" until 2008 by refraining from trying to topple the Cabinet or seek to form a new Cabinet.
Ma would also not try to oust Chen or the Cabinet through street demonstrations because such protests are "outside of governmental system," the paper said.
"The KMT has never ruled out the possibility of toppling the Cabinet ? I don't know where such information comes from," Ma said.
He said the China Times had not sought confirmation of its story from him.
As the right to assembly and parade is protected by law, Ma said street demonstrations could not be seen an "outside the government" measures.
He also said he would not exclude any possibility in ousting the president.
921 EARTHQUAKE: The magnitude 7.3 quake left 2,456 people dead and 10,718 injured, while 53,661 houses were fully destroyed and 53,024 houses damaged The Central Weather Bureau yesterday received about 50,000 views on Facebook after it posted the data that it collected on Sept. 21, 1999, when the nation was devastated by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake. The data showed that the 921 Earthquake hit the nation at 1:47am, with the epicenter being 7km southwest of the bureau’s quake detection center in Nantou County’s Yuchi Township (魚池) at a depth of 8km. The quake left 2,456 people dead and 10,718 injured, while 53,661 houses were fully destroyed and 53,024 houses damaged, with the cost of the damage estimated at NT$300 billion (US$10.8 billion at the current
British newspaper The Mail on Sunday reported that Prince Charles met with Bruno Wang (汪家興), a Taiwanese fugitive who describes himself as a Chinese philanthropist and donated ￡500,000 (US$683,522) to the prince’s charity, the Prince’s Foundation. The newspaper reported that Wang is wanted in Taiwan on charges related to money laundering and being a fugitive from justice, allegations he denies, and drew comparisons between Wang and the Russian banker Dmitry Leus. Investigation and cooperation with foreign authorities have found that Bruno Wang’s father, Andrew Wang (汪傳浦), had stashed proceeds from a scandal involving the procurement of Lafayette frigates in 61 bank accounts,
AT ODDS: The KMT called on the government to seek bilateral dialogue with Beijing to resolve the issue that led to the ban on custard apple and wax apple imports Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials and lawmakers yesterday condemned China’s sudden ban on imports of custard apples and wax apples from Taiwan as “obvious political retaliation,” while the opposition called for a scientific investigation into Beijing’s claim to have found pests in imports of the fruits. China earlier yesterday announced a ban on the importation of the two fruits from today, citing repeated discoveries of Planococcus minor, a type of mealybug. The announcement follows a similar ban on Taiwanese pineapples imposed in February. At least Beijing gave a few days’ notice when it banned pineapple imports, an unnamed government official said yesterday. This time
BY OTHER MEANS: China could see CPTPP membership as a means of circumventing trade restrictions imposed by the US, amid an ongoing trade dispute between them The US could invoke a clause in its trade agreement with Canada and Mexico to block China’s application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a government official said yesterday. Under Article 32.10 of the Exceptions and General Provisions of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), if either Canada or Mexico enter a free-trade agreement with a nonmarket economy — such as China — the US could withdraw from the agreement. “If that clause applies to multilateral free-trade agreements such as the CPTPP — which Mexico and Canada are members of — that might be cause for the two
RSS