The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and civic groups yesterday urged supporters to participate in various protests to be held around President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) inauguration ceremony on May 20 to voice their discontent with the administration.
At a massive protest at Huashan 1914 Creative Park, arranged by the TSU for the morning of May 20, people will be invited to throw eggs at a giant LCD screen broadcasting Ma’s inauguration ceremony, TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) said.
Held on the heels of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) rally the previous day, which will end at the park, the protest is scheduled to begin at 8am and protesters plan to march to “as close as we can get” to the Presidential Office, Huang said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The TSU’s demonstration intends to highlight Ma’s “cheating the people,” including betraying his pledges to return the ill-gotten party assets of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and to freeze the prices of fuel and electricity that he had made before the presidential election, Huang said.
The pro-independence Taiwan Nation Alliance has also announced it would stage a four-day protest between May 17 and May 20 on Chingtao E Rd.
Hakka groups in Miaoli, Hsinchu and Taoyuan counties are set to announce their support for the DPP’s protest today at Yimin (Heroes) Temple in Miaoli County.
The groups said in a press release that they would call on Hakka to attend the May 19 rally and voice their anger over Ma’s poor performance, in particular his neglect of infrastructure and cultural preservation in Hakka-populated regions.
Civic groups led by the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan have scheduled protests from May 13 through May 21 at the Taipei Railway Station.
There has also been an ongoing anti-Ma protest in Taipei — a sit-in by a group of young DPP city councilors on Ketagalan Boulevard.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
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