Amid public anger over the disqualification of Taiwanese taekwondo athlete Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君) at the Asian Games in China, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said it will voice its support for Yang in tomorrow’s rally in Taipei City, which is aimed at boosting support for Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin’s (郝龍斌) re-election bid ahead of the Nov. 27 elections.
The KMT’s announcement yesterday attracted criticism from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who -accused the KMT of exploiting the incident.
“The KMT has not done much to defend our athletes in the past and it should not make use of them now for their own gains,” Su said.
The KMT has been indecisive about the theme of tomorrow’s march. It had originally planned to hold the event along the lines of a traditional political rally to consolidate pan-blue support for Hau. However, the sizable number of swing voters has prompted the party to play down the political implications and it changed the rally to what is described as “a carnival-like march.”
The party had added anti-corruption and judicial reform as motifs for the event following the Nov. 5 acquittal of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in a corruption case, but later dropped the politically charged theme after Chen was sentenced to 11 yeas in another corruption case.
KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) yesterday dismissed Su’s allegation over the political motive behind the latest theme of its rally and said the DPP should refrain from exploiting the issue.
“The theme of the rally has never changed. All the things that Taipei residents support can be included in the march and we believe that Taipei residents will join us to defend Yang’s rights,” King said when announcing the latest motif of the march at a press conference.
Hau, dressed up as a pilot and standing in front of a model plane, said the incident reaffirmed the city government’s determination to apply for the hosting rights of the next Asian Games to create a fair environment for local athletes.
“Sunday’s march is being organized to make Taipei more open and internationalized and we welcome all residents, whether they are pro-blue or pro-green, to join us and walk for the city’s future,” he said.
Titled “A Walk for Taipei — Taipei Flies High,” the march will begin at Taipei City Hall at 2:30pm tomorrow and end at the East (Jingfu) Gate (景福門) in front of the Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard, where a campaign party will be held from 6pm.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS