Politicians around the nation fanned out to temples yesterday on the first day of the Lunar New Year to take part in religious rituals and pray for national prosperity in the new year.
After spending the last hour of the Year of the Horse on Wednesday night ringing the Lotus Bell at the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist temple in New Taipei City’s Jinshan District (金山), President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday visited the Cixou Temple (慈祐宮) and Guandu Temple (關渡宮) in Taipei and Kaohsiung’s Guanti Temple (關帝廟), where he distributed “lucky envelopes” to people.
At Cixou Temple, Ma wished the public a happy Lunar New Year.
Photo: CNA
“We have strong confidence that Taiwan’s economy will get better this year,” he said.
The president also paid visits to former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) and Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), both former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmen.
Ma and Lien emerged after a one-hour meeting to make a show of solidarity in front of waiting reporters and photographers.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
“Lien has always supported what I have said recently, that we are not a ‘caretaker’ or ‘lame duck’ administration,” said Ma, adding that the government would continue to take whatever actions it viewed as necessary.
Lien said the new year was full of opportunity, expressing hope that everyone would work together for the good of the nation.
Meanwhile, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was mobbed during his visits to nine temples in the city, as people swarmed to touch him, shake his hand or take photographs.
Worshipers also crowded to catch a glimpse of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) when she visited Jhulinshan Guanyin Temple (竹林山觀音寺) in New Taipei City, with a long line forming to receive the paper spring couplets and red envelopes she distributed after she offered prayers at the temple.
She also visited temples in Taipei and Keelung.
After emerging from the Jhulinshan Guanyin Temple sanctuary, Tsai said that she had prayed for prosperity and peace for the nation and people.
However, she refused to comment on her planned presidential bid, citing the New Year holiday.
In response to Ma’s call on Wednesday night for cross-party talks, Tsai said the DPP hopes that consensus can be arrived on the many important challenges and issues facing the nation.
“Taiwan faces many challenges,” she said. “We hope that society can harmoniously come to a consensus and rally the largest force possible for reform.”
She confirmed she visited People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) to discuss constitutional reform efforts.
“It was good for parties who feel a sense of responsibility to society to sit down together and hold talks,” she said.
Meanwhile, a divination slip drawn yesterday at the Nankushen Daitian Temple (南鯤鯓代天府) in Tainan to foretell the luck of the nation in the new year ended up triggering heated discussions about its meaning.
The title of the slip, Wu Zetian Ascending the Throne (武則天坐天), led to speculation that the nation is to have its first female president, since Tsai has signed up for her party’s primary for next year’s presidential election.
Wu was China’s first and only female emperor.
However, Nankushen Daitian Temple executive secretary Hou Hsien-hsun (侯賢遜) said the content of the slip means that “our unsettled society is to stabilize” and that “the bad will pass and the good will come.”
Additional reporting by Steve Tsao
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
RSS