President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen will make his decision known when he receives the organizers of the march at the Presidential Office, he said after a news conference at which the march organizer, the "Democracy, Peace and Defend Taiwan Alliance" (
One model is a white globe that Su called a "shining pearl," signifying Taiwan's love of peace and insistence on democracy. The other is a red globe with long spikes, resembling a sea urchin and symbolizing China's violence-oriented autocracy, according to Su.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The two "spiritual forts" signify the strong contrast between the natures of Taiwan and China, Su said.
"The red sea urchin with long pointed spikes also symbolizes China's missiles targeted at Taiwan and the SARS virus spreading to Taiwan, which both convey an uncomfortable feeling of suppression, evil and danger. It is an impression that China has given Taiwan and the whole world," Su added.
At yesterday's news conference, presidential adviser Lee Yuan-chen (李元貞) and the former president of the Taiwan Junior Chamber (國際青年商會), Tsai Shih-yin (蔡世寅), joined fellow alliance members in piercing red balloons resembling sea urchins.
They said the action represents resistance to an invasion by China.
Meanwhile, the alliance has prepared about a dozen mobile phone messages that can be downloaded from its Web site and sent to young people to encourage them to take part in the march.
"We know that young people love using mobile messages to communicate with their friends, and we hope these messages will promote their participation in the march," Cheng Wen-tsan (
Later yesterday, Cheng, DPP caucus whip Peter Lin (
Wang did not give an answer immediately, saying he needed more time to think about it.
Taipei City spokesman Yu Tze-hsiang (
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
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