Local non-governmental organizations (NGO) were lobbying yesterday for the public to vote for Yushan (玉山) to become one of the world’s “New 7 Wonders of Nature.”
The organizations urged the public to cast their vote, asking people to treat the finals of the competition even more seriously than the upcoming presidential election.
Yushan, also known as Jade Mountain, is among the 28 finalists of a four-stage contest that began three years ago.
Photo: CNA
The Taiwanese landmark, which is the highest peak in East Asia, has been gaining votes slowly, according to Wang Chun-hsiu (王俊秀), who organized the Vote-for-Yushan campaign.
Wang said that the last thing Taiwanese would want to see is Yushan losing the contest to South Korea’s Jeju Island — the only other natural landmark in northeast Asia that has made it as far as the finals.
“Yushan is and will be the president of the Republic of China -forever,” Wang said.
“Winning or losing in this race matters much more than the upcoming presidential election,” he said.
Wang, in collaboration with the Central Taiwan Sustainable Development Alliance, urged Taiwanese both at home and abroad, and all Chinese people, to go online and cast their vote for the breathtaking landmark.
“It’s time to put politics aside,” alliance chairman Chen Ping-huang (陳炳煌) said.
“With two weeks left to the deadline, Yushan is going to top the new seven wonders,” Chen said.
The public can follow simple step-by-step instructions on how to cast their votes, as explained in leaflets issued by local NGOs and on an official campaign Web site at www.ysnp.gov.tw/en/, which was launched by Yushan National Park Headquarters, Chen and Wang said.
“We don’t want to let the inhabitants of Yushan down — the Formosan black bears and Mikado pheasants — do we?” Chen said.
Votes for Yushan can be logged on www.new7wonders.com/vote-2?lang=en.
Cellphone users can call 55123, or text the word “yushan” to the same number.
Voting by phone can also be carried out by calling 5512 and following the voice instructions.
The cost of texting or dialing is less than NT$10, the NGOs said.
The seven wonders poll identifies Yushan as being located in Chinese Taipei.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
The first tropical storm of the year in the western North Pacific, Wutip (蝴蝶), has formed over the South China Sea and is expected to move toward Hainan Island off southern China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. The agency said a tropical depression over waters near the Paracel and Zhongsha islands strengthened into a tropical storm this morning. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 64.8kph, with peak gusts reaching 90kph, it said. Winds at Beaufort scale level 7 — ranging from 50kph to 61.5kph — extended up to 80km from the center, it added. Forecaster Kuan Hsin-ping
RSS