A fellowship composed of several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Kaohsiung City Councilors, Kaohsiung City Government officials, DPP legislators and the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan yesterday announced a plan to hold a large-scale rally on Sunday to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the church's declaration on human rights.
Reverend Chen Sheng-cheng (陳勝政) told a press conference that the declaration, which was issued on Aug 16, 1977, was worthy of commemoration because it was sent to then US president Jimmy Carter and other world leaders amid worsening diplomatic relations between the US and Taiwan.
Chen said the declaration was significant because it was the first document from Taiwan to point out the fact that "Taiwan may become a new and independent country."
The declaration requested that Carter "continue to uphold the principles of human rights while pursuing the `normalization of relationships with communist China' and insist on guaranteeing the security, independence and freedom of the people of Taiwan."
The document also declared that the future of the nation should be determined by the people of Taiwan.
The fellowship said Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
The church said it will also invite President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) to the rally.
As of Monday, 9,908 people had signed up for the rally, the Church said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai