The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday that 100,000 people are expected to take to the streets of Taipei on Saturday to demand that the government put its proposed plan to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China to a referendum.
The party said the protest would be divided into two routes, with former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) leading a route each.
The party has also invited former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to attend the rally and be one of the speakers, DPP spokesman Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said, adding that the party had been in communication with the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), of which Lee is the spiritual leader, regarding the former president’s participation.
DPP candidates for the other four special municipality elections would also join the rally, Tsai said.
The party said demonstrators would be split into two groups — an “anti-‘one China’ market” group and a “referendum on an ECFA” group.
The “anti-‘one China’ market” route will start at Dinghao Plaza and travel along Zhongxiao E Road, Linsen S Road and Renai Road Sec 1.
The “referendum on an ECFA” march, meanwhile, will begin at Wanhua Station and proceed along Monga Boulevard, Heping W Road Sec 2, Fuzhou Street, Roosevelt Road Sec 1 and Zhongshan S Road.
Both marches will start at 4pm and converge on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office at 5pm, where a number of DPP officials are expected to make speeches.
The protest is scheduled to finish at 7pm, the party said.
An ECFA between Taiwan and China is expected to be signed by the end of this month or early next month. Proposals for a referendum on the trade pact — one initiated by the DPP and another by the TSU — have been rejected by the Referendum Review Committee.
The TSU has since initiated a new referendum campaign.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
RSS