DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said that the March 26 march was the largest gathering in the history of Taiwan's democratic movement, as an estimated 1 million Taiwanese people joined in the march and voiced their desire for peace and democracy.
Su made the remarks yesterday in a news conference held by the Taiwan Democratic Alliance for Peace, the organizer of the March 26 march.
The news conference was held at at the Gloria Prince Hotel (華泰王子大飯店) to express appreciation of all the people who contributed to making the massive rally a success on Saturday.
Resolution
"On March 26, the people of Taiwan showed their resolution in protecting their homeland from China's aggression, and showed it with real action. Many people brought their families along to the rally. This also demonstrates the diversity of Taiwan's society and our way of life," Su said.
"China does not know how to respect the individual. It only knows how to bully a country that is smaller than it is," he said.
"We hope the whole world will now hear the voice of the people of Taiwan, and understand that we don't plan to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait," Su added.
Disputes
As for the disputes over the turnout for the march, according to a survey conducted by the alliance on March 28 and 29, about 5.5 percent of those polled -- 1,293 people over 20 years of age -- said that they joined in the march.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, there are about 16.74 million people over 20 years old.
From these numbers, the alliance calculated that about 930,000 people participated in the historic event.
Historic
"About 670,000 people actually joined in the march. They came together from 10 different routes. Then about 260,000 people went on to the rally that was held on Ketagalan Boulevard," Lee said.
"It was also close to estimates given by over 20 international mass media outlets," DPP Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) said yesterday.
The poll also supported President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) comment regarding the march, saying that about 230,000 citizens of Taipei City and about 200,000 citizens of Taipei County participated in the event.
‘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 High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
RSS