The first phase of a referendum on an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) organized by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) will be completed a month ahead of schedule and with far more than the required number of signatures.
TSU officials told the Taipei Times yesterday they expected to be able to deliver nearly 200,000 signatures to the Executive Yuan’s Referendum Review Committee by the middle of this month, more than double the 86,000 signatures needed to pass the first review.
TSU Associate Director Chou Ni-an (周倪安) said the party’s projections were based on the overwhelming response it had received from non-profit organizations and grassroots movements.
In a show of support, the independence-leaning Neo Formosa Magazine delivered an additional 10,000 signatures to the TSU yesterday afternoon.
Among the signatures was that of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who according to his office secretary is a supporter of the referendum drive.
This was the second attempt at a referendum on the controversial trade pact.
A drive initiated by the DPP last year was rebuffed by the Referendum Review Committee despite having an initial review passed by the Central Election Commission.
The committee turned down the petition on the grounds that it was based on a hypothetical situation that did not meet the criteria of the Referendum Act (公投法).
TSU officials said yesterday that in light of government plans to sign the pact in June, these comments would no longer stand.
Chiang said that if the review committee once again rejected the proposal, pro-independence organizations and the TSU would have no choice but to band together and rally in support of the referendum, promising to send up to 1 million protesters onto the streets.
A DPP poll showed that 66.1 percent of the public supports holding a nationwide referendum before government agencies can sign the agreement.
The proposal by the TSU will ask voters to choose whether they agreed or disagree with the government signing any type of economic agreement with China, as exemplified by “President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) ECFA proposal.”
Meanwhile, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he had asked the Mainland Affairs Council and Ministry of Economic Affairs to provide DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) with information concerning an ECFA by April 19, one week ahead of their scheduled debate on the topic on April 25.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
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
RSS