President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was urged yesterday not to forget “the nature and true color of the Chinese Communists” and to uphold the sovereignty of the Republic of China.
Accusing Taiwanese police of “using force against their countrymen and women,” Taipei City Councilor Lee Wen-ying (李文英) of the Democratic Progressive Party said: “Human rights in Taiwan have been lost as a result of the force used by police against anti-China protesters” at venues visited by Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) in the past two days.
Lee went to the Presidential Office to present several books and an appeal to Ma, calling on him not to sacrifice the nation’s sovereignty.
Explaining her actions, Lee said that Mao Zedong’s Quotations and the Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) published by the Epoch Times — represent the most telling record of the Chinese Communists’ “vicious and unscrupulous nature.”
Another book she presented, former president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) The Taiwanese in a New Era, argues that Taiwanese should “outperform the era” and that the country’s president should represent the people of Taiwan rather than himself, she said.
Records of China’s Judicial Persecution of Taiwanese Businessmen, meanwhile, is an account of Taiwanese businesspeople in China who were “rejected” by Chen and his aides after they were exploited and bullied, she said.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of