A coalition of blue-collar workers and unionists yesterday demanded Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
Holding banners that read "The hard-working people are not pigs, dogs and other animals," the Action Alliance for Opposing a Referendum on UN Membership for Taiwan staged a protest outside the DPP's headquarters.
The protesters demanded Hsieh apologize to all workers for making improper comments. They also demanded the DPP apologize for ignoring the plight of workers and for pushing the referendum on UN membership.
PHOTO: PATRICK LIN, AFP
Last Saturday Hsieh said: "We are not pigs or other animals who do not care about the next generation and how to win the respect of others," in response to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival Ma Ying-jeou's (
Ma said Hsieh should discuss the economy instead, quoting former US president Bill Clinton's 2000 campaign slogan -- "It's the economy, stupid!"
Alliance members pinned the skin from a pig's head on a DPP flag. The described DPP officials as "pig-headed politicians" and the DPP's referendum proposal as a "pig-headed referendum."
The protesters clashed with police when they tried to enter the building to present the pigskin. They wrapped it up in the DPP flag and threw it over the police lines.
An alliance member, Labor Party Chairman Wu Rong-yuan (吳榮元) called on Hsieh and the DPP to pay attention to the plight of the working class because they represented the voice of grassroots voters.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “[we] appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody