Families of 228 Massacre victims may follow the example of Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi, who famously threw a shoe at former US president George W. Bush last December, by throwing shoes at President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) at this year’s 228 Day Memorial Service, Chinese-language media reported yesterday.
The memorial service, which will be hosted by the 228 Memorial Foundation, will take place this month in Kaohsiung. The Taipei City Government will also host a service the same day in the capital.
Feb. 28, or 228, is a holiday that commemorates the 228 Incident, a massacre that took place in 1947 when Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) troops suppressed a Taiwanese uprising, leaving tens of thousands dead, missing or imprisoned.
Newspapers yesterday reported that families of the incident’s victims would stage a protest against Ma during the memorial service to express their dissatisfaction with the government and a suggestion by a KMT legislator on Sunday that the holiday be scrapped.
“We have not heard of such plans,” representatives of the 228 Memorial Foundation said. “It is unlikely to happen, as we will have security guards at the event.”
The Presidential Office said yesterday that Ma was willing to face protesters no matter what action they take, as Taiwan needs reconciliation.
Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said Ma viewed 228 as an important day and that he would do his best to attend both memorial services in Taipei and Kaohsiung despite his busy schedule.
“The president knows some protesters plan to throw shoes at him. This is not the first 228-related activity that he will be attending. During his time as Taipei mayor and KMT chairman, he also participated in several 228 memorial services where protests occurred,” Wang said.
The president, Wang said, would be willing to deal with any impoliteness because “he believes history must be dealt with honestly and that there must be reconciliation among people.”
“The president will do everything in his power to attend the services and we hope the protesters will express their opinions in an appropriate manner,” he said.
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said the president should endure any planned protests by family members of victims of the incident.
“[He] still has to endure [the protests] even if people are going to throw shoes, stones or eggs at him, because the incident is a scar in Taiwan’s history and the president has the obligation to heal the sorrow,” she said.
However, KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) urged protesters not to throw shoes.
Following the shoe attack on Bush last year, a German student threw a shoe at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) this month during his visit to Britain’s Cambridge University.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JENNY W. HSU AND FLORA WANG
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS