The Taiwan Action Party Alliance (TAPA, 一邊一國行動黨) was launched at an event in Taipei yesterday with a number of pan-green camp veterans in attendance in a show of support for the pro-independence group.
The party’s charter calls for “striving for Taiwan to become a sovereign, independent country, and for Taiwan to join as a member country of the UN.”
“Our core foundation is to build up Taiwan as an advanced nation, based on the universal values of freedom, democracy, due process of law, human rights, environmental protection and social justice,” the charter says.
Photo: CNA
The party was created by groups closely associated with former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) as well as Taiwanese independence advocates.
Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former presidential advisers Peng Ming-min (彭明敏) and Wu Li-pei (吳澧培), former premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃) and Taiwanese National Party founder Huang Hua (黃華) were among the green camp dignitaries in attendance.
Chen provided a video message that was aired at the launch, saying that he was confident about the new party’s ability to win 1 million votes in next year’s legislative elections, and win at least three seats or surpass the 5 percent threshold required to be allotted legislator-at-large seats.
He would “work as a gardener, watering and tending the TAPA to help it grow and prevent it from drying up,” Chen said.
After a vote of the new party’s members, a list of 15 executive members was announced, although the party said it would operate by consensus and committee decisionmaking, and not be run by a chairperson.
Former National Taipei University of the Arts president Yang Chyi-wen (楊其文) was chosen to be the party’s first convener.
The government must implement real “Taiwanese education,” as the public has not learned much about Taiwan’s history and its people, Yang said.
“This is very unfair on all of us, as the misguided education and teaching of history has led to talk of ‘maintaining the status quo on cross-strait relations,’ but this is unsuitable for Taiwan,” he said.
TAPA member Janice Chen (陳昭姿) read out the party’s declaration, which states: “We are composed of pro-Taiwan groups, with our shared history, and common sense of responsibility and life mission. Our goal is to build Taiwan into a normal, independent country, for us to stand tall proudly alongside all the other nations of the world.”
“The Democratic Progressive Party is no longer a party capable of embracing diverse voices and opinions, but has regressed into a monolithic party where one person has the final say in everything,” the declaration said.
TAPA’s “mandate is to inspire everyone to have the courage to head on ‘Taiwan’s road’ and to live as proud Taiwanese,” it said.
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
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
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS