Relatives of last week's China Airlines disaster attended various religious ceremonies both in Penghu and Taipei yesterday to mourn the dead.
The Buddhist, Taoist and Christian ceremonies of mourning were held yesterday morning for the 225 passengers and crew on board the Boeing 747-200 that plunged into the sea last Saturday 20 minutes after taking off from Taipei's CKS airport en route to Hong Kong.
President Chen Shui-bian (
Lee Han (
"President Chen told me he understood how I felt and would help me accomplish my goal. We need to seek punitive compensation from the airlines," Lee said.
Chen also urged the search teams to continue their efforts and told them not to give up hope of recovering the bodies or the wreckage, Presidential Office Spokesman James Huang (黃志芳) said.
A man surnamed Chen from China told reporters in Penghu that he dreamt of his decreased daughter the day before yesterday.
"I dreamt of her last night," said Chen. "Saying nothing, she just returned unexpectedly and then left."
Chinese belief holds that seven days after the death of a family member the soul of the departed will return to his or her home.
Chinese funeral ceremonies traditionally last over 49 days, with the first seven days being the most important. Prayers are said every seven days for 49 days. The head of the family should be present for at least the first and possibly the second prayer ceremony.
Amid pouring rains in Penghu, religious ceremonies were held at Penghu's air force base as relatives gathered to pay their respects.
In an auditorium in Taipei, about 400 relatives also took part in a Buddhist ceremony with monks chanting softly and drumming lightly on wooden blocks.
Many bowed before strips of yellow paper that covered the walls of the auditorium. The strips bore the names of the 225 passengers and crew who were killed in the crash.
China Airlines executives wearing dark suits and pilots dressed in white uniforms joined the relatives as they sat on purple cushions, chanting Buddhist scriptures.
Searchers from Taiwan and China have recovered nearly 100 bodies from the sea off the Penghu archipelago, though more than half of the passengers are still missing.
Meanwhile, experts from the American Underwater Search and Survey Ltd (AUSS) reached Penghu yesterday to assist with the underwater retrieval of the wreckage as well as the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder of the plane.
Saying that the AUSS is planning to bring in some high-frequency acoustic facilities to help with the effort, veteran marine search expert John Perry Fish said the task was indeed "challenging but certainly not impossible."
Meanwhile, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) yesterday faxed its Chinese counterpart, to ask Beijing's assistance for related radar data to help locate the wreckage in the Taiwan Strait.
Many leaders including US President George W. Bush have sent their condolences to President Chen to express their sympathy with the familes of the victims, according to a foreign ministry press release.
"President Chen expressed his genuine appreciation for the condolence sent by the international community," a press release stated.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS