As a special arms procurement bill has been stalled in the Legislative Yuan for a long time and there is no sign yet that it will be passed, the Northern Taiwan Society (NTS) yesterday urged people to donate NT$100 to help gather the necessary amount for the budget, and to fund military research.
"The arms procurement bill concerns the security of the people of Taiwan, and has become a shitty show in the legislature. We feel sorry to see that politicians sacrificed national security to achieve their political aims. People have lost their patience," NTS chairman Wu Shuh-min (吳樹民) said in a news conference yesterday afternoon.
"According to the current situation, it is impossible to expect legislators to pass an arms sale bill that could protect our security. The people of Taiwan have to rely on themselves, and can't wait any longer."
Therefore, the NTS launched a fundraiser, hoping each person in Taiwan can donate NT$100 to accumulate the budget for the weapons, Wu said.
The society aims to collect NT$100 million before February, and expects that 1 million people would support the activity.
The fundraising idea was proposed by a participant who joined in a parade held on Sept. 25 that protested the pan-blue camp's opposition to the arms sale bill in the Legislative Yuan, Wu said.
"`Many a little makes a mickle.' Although the amount we collect might not be enough to buy one of those weapons that the government plans to purchase, at least such a fundraiser might evoke people's recognition of the importance to protect the country in all practical aspects," said Chet Yang (
The society will establish a committee to take charge of monitoring donations, and some of the funds will be used for encouraging military research or for scholarships for military-school students.
"Hopefully this activity can become another patriotism movement," he said.
Two senior advisers to the president, Wu Li-pei (吳澧培) and Chen Chi-sheng (陳繼盛) and Academia Sinica's Liao Shu-tsung (廖述宗) also attended the news conference to voice support for the fundraiser.
Yang said the society will hold a series of activities to promote the fundraiser over the next few weeks and will invite Premier Frank Hsieh (
People who are interested in making a donation can call (02) 2396-0900 or check the Web site www.north.org.tw for further information.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
RSS