Members of a group supporting the idea that “the people are the master of the country” finished a walk around Taiwan, which started at Taipei City’s Lungshan Temple on Nov. 8, reaching their starting point yesterday after walking about 1,030km.
Lin I-hsiung (林義雄), a long-time democracy stalwart and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman who initiated the campaign, urged the public to pay attention to its appeal.
Having staged nationwide marches in 1994, 1997 and 2002 to call for a referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant that is currently under construction, this time Lin organized the march after a proposal by the DPP to hold a plebiscite on the government’s plan to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China was rejected by the Cabinet’s Referendum Review Committee.
The walk called for a referendum on any cross-strait agreements, including an ECFA, and amendments to some articles of the Referendum Law (公民投票法), which members of the group said repressed rather than ensured people’s right to hold a referendum.
During the last leg of the march from the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall to Lungshan Temple yesterday, participants took a break at Da-an Forest Park, with those who walked more than 800km in 49 days sharing their experiences.
Chen Li-kuei (陳麗貴) said she attended the campaign to express her wish that the government let the people of Taiwan determine the country’s destiny.
“It’s an ingenuous plan of action and we behaved with the strictest discipline to earn the approval of others. No matter where we were, in every corner of Taiwan, there were people joining us or giving us donations. We felt really appreciated and will continue our efforts,” Chen said.
Lin Min-da (林銘達), a retired teacher who found walking difficult, said he started to practice walking everyday when he heard of the campaign six months before it began.
“I am worried that beautiful Taiwan will be sold out if people do not come forward to fight for self-determination,” Lin said.
Chiang Liang-min (江良民), who has fourth stage colorectal cancer, said that this “silent” and “peaceful” campaign was more effective than fierce opposition.
During the campaign, participants were required to wear the same T-shirt and leaf hats and were prohibited from talking, smoking or eating while walking.
Hsu Fan-ting (許芳庭), who completed the whole journey, said she believed that any goal could be achieved peacefully through perseverance, while violence would only cause more violence.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS