Municipal leaders have reacted positively to a decision by student protesters to withdraw from the Legislative Yuan at 6pm tomorrow.
Protest leaders made the announcement on Monday night.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member, said society had paid a hefty price for the student movement, but credited it for giving the public a chance to review both positive and negative aspects of cross-strait exchanges.
New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), another KMT member, said that despite the heavy costs, society had learned many lessons.
Taoyuan County Commissioner John Wu (吳志揚), also of the KMT, urged the public to refocus on the issues themselves, saying that addressing them would be in the best interests of the public.
Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德), a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said he supported the students’ move to withdraw after completing their mission, adding that he had been impressed by the civic power and defense of democracy displayed by the movement.
Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), another DPP member, thanked the students for waging a battle for Taiwan, and said she hoped that the proposed oversight law on cross-strait agreements would live up to the public’s expectations.
Meanwhile, writer Hsiao Yeh (小野) said the withdrawal would be a perfect ending and he saw the Sunflower movement as stopping the government from continuing to operate without transparency.
Many people had predicted that the student movement would not last long when it began on March 18, but Hsiao said he was happy to see that the students were imaginative and had built up momentum.
“I am supporting them, and I do not feel that they have damaged public property,” he said.
Representative to France Michel Lu (呂慶龍) said the occupation of the legislative chamber had helped the public to think more rationally about the service trade pact, even as the public continued their normal life, showing how deeply rooted democracy is in Taiwan.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,