About 10,000 Taiwanese expatriates are expected to return to the country to celebrate the Double Ten national day, the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission said.
Commission Chairman Wu Yin-yih (吳英毅) said that more than 8,000 expats had signed up to attend National Day celebrations and predicted that the number could reach 10,000, the highest in the last eight years.
Last year’s celebrations attracted about 3,000 expats, Wu said.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will deliver a National Day speech at the celebration rally in front of the Presidential Office next Friday and will lead the participants in chanting “Long Live the Republic of China” (ROC) and “Long Live Taiwanese Democracy,” Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said.
Ma said last week that this year’s celebrations were significant to the country and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) because it would be the first National Day since the party that had founded the ROC regained power after eight years.
The practice of the president addressing the National Day rally had been observed for years until former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) canceled his speech last year to avoid a repeat of the disturbance caused by his opponents during a speech he made on the same occasion in 2006.
Chen and his predecessor, Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), have said they would not attend this year’s ceremony, Deputy Minister of the Interior Lai Feng-wei (賴峰偉) said a day earlier.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jyn-ping (王金平), who is also the chief organizer of the National Day Celebration Committee, said earlier this month that the budget for this year’s festivities was NT$45.09 million (US$1.48 million), including NT$11 million for a fireworks display.
The fireworks show will take place in Chiayi City and a party will be held in Hualien County in the evening. A military parade will not be part of this year’s program.
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
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Reports of Taiwanese going missing, being detained or interrogated, or having their personal liberties restricted in China increased about fourfold annually last year, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Last year, 221 Taiwanese who traveled to China were reported missing, were detained and interrogated, or otherwise had their personal freedom restricted, up from 55 the previous year, the council said. Reopening group tours to China would be risky, as it would leave travelers with no way to seek help through official channels after Beijing shut down dialogue between the associations tasked with handling cross-strait tourism, the MAC said. Taipei’s Taiwan Strait Tourism
RSS