Amid applauses and cheers, about 100 taxis, carrying flags with the slogan “Defend our sovereignty, defend Taiwan” set out to stage surprise protests at random locations after a rally outside the Legislative Yuan yesterday.
Before the official departure at 3pm, about 100 taxis had already lined up on Jinan Road outside the legislature.
The drivers then began decorating their cars with small flags with the slogan “Defend our sovereignty, defend Taiwan” and yellow headbands with “Taiwan is my country” written in English and Chinese.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Some brought their own placards to protest against President Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) pro-China policies and the visit of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
“Since Ma took over the presidency [in May], he has been repressing [the pro-Taiwan camp] through political and judicial means — and now he's even trying to compromise Taiwan's sovereignty,” Wu Shuh-min (吳樹民), chairman of the Taiwan Society, which organized the event, told the crowd.
“We must act now before it's too late,” he said, and was answered with loud applauses and cheers.
With supporters lined up on both sides of the road cheering, the taxis set out after blowing their horns five times.
“They will be out there like viruses making random protests at random locations,” said Zhang Ming-you (張銘祐), a Taiwan Society office director.
Earlier yesterday, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) also staged a demonstration in front of the legislature.
“The Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] did a 180-degree turn from their anti-communist stance in the past to their pro-communist stance,” TSU chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) told a crowd of supporters. “And this change really disgusts me.”
At the venue, the TSU displayed tainted or toxic products imported from China.
“As Chen Yunlin arrives this morning, I'd like to call on him to apologize to Taiwanese for the tainted milk products and propose real compensation,” the TSU chairman said.
After his brief remarks, Huang invited supporters to hit a dummy of Chen labeled “Executioners of China-based Taiwanese businesspeople,” “Smiling to hide his intention to annex Taiwan” and “President Ma's emperor.”
Huang said that as face-to-face confrontations were not allowed, the TSU would seek “flexible means” to voice its discontent.
Later last night, thousands of people — all wearing yellow headbands that read “Taiwan is my country” and some holding flags with an illustration of the map of Taiwan — rallied outside the legislature.
The rally, organized by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was held outside the legislature rather than near the Grand Hotel where Chen was staying because all of the party's applications for assembly and parade permits around the hotel had been turned down.
A rally will be held every evening until Thursday. Chen leaves on Friday morning.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said