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.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
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
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS