Two spectators who attended games during the 2001 Asian Women's Soccer Championships in Taipei yesterday accused former Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of lying, saying Taipei police had told them they could not bring the national flag to the event.
Showing pictures taken during the game, Huang Shu-chun (
"I feel so sad that in my own country I could not bring the national flag to an event," Huang said at the Taipei City Council.
Wu said to take the flag into the stadium they had cut it into four pieces so that police would not find it.
Huang said Ma's contention that the city government had never banned people from taking the national flag to international games, or that police had used a "light" approach to dissuade people from using it, was a lie and asked that he make a public apology.
"The things you've done will leave a mark. Ma did ban us from carrying the national flag at the game. He failed to protect Taipei City and Taiwanese," she said.
Accompanying the duo, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Yen Sheng-kuan (
In response, Ma said yesterday that the issue of the national flag showed that the DPP had joined forces with China to repress the Republic of China, adding that he would sue Yen and former DPP legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) for defamation.
Ma spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) called on DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) to encourage all DPP members and supporters to wave the national flag and sing the national anthem during its rallies on Saturday to show their passion for national symbols.
"If the DPP fails to do so, it would make it clear that it is cooperating with the Chinese Communist Party to repress the Republic of China, because both of them refuse to fly the national flag," he said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
RSS