The Alliance to Campaign for Rectifying the Name of Taiwan yesterday called off the scheduled 100,000 person march scheduled for May 11 to avoid the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
The joint national convener of the campaign and advisor to the president Ng Chiau-tong (
"The campaign to rectify the name of Taiwan is the path leading to Taiwan's sustainable development.
"However, because the nation is combating the spread of SARS, it is not a good time for the alliance to stage the march. Therefore we decided to postpone it," Ng told a press conference.
Presidential advisor Chen Lung-chih (
Meanwhile, the Association of Friends of Lee Teng-hui (
Association chairman and a national policy advisor Hwang Kun-hu (
As Taiwan prepares to launch the name ratification campaign, the state-run Central News Agency reported yesterday that a hacker's Web site in China said it would hack into Taiwan's official Web sites from 9am today to 8pm on May 11 in retaliation against the nation's pro-independence activities.
The statement by the Chinese hackers stated they would use the DDOS model to paralyze Taiwan's major official Web sites, including those of the Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, the Mainland Affairs Council, and the Government Information Office.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach