■ POLITICS
Protesters greet Wu
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) was heckled by a group of people in Taichung City yesterday over his comment that people who advocate Taiwanese independence were either “irresponsible or idiots.” The protesters confronted Wu when he got off a vehicle outside the venue for the opening of the IT Month trade show. A man later dashed to the platform and tried to throw an egg while the premier was speaking. The egg missed Wu. Police grabbed hold of the man, who was shouting “he called me an idiot,” and threw him to the ground. Wu said he had already clarified the controversy over the “idiots” comment. The premier said in an interview with the UFO Network on Tuesday that “only irresponsible people or idiots would want to seek independence [for Taiwan].” On Wednesday, the Government Information Office issued a statement saying Wu considered the words “or idiots” to be “unnecessary words” and apologized. However, the apology came hours after several attempts to defend his remarks.
■ POLITICS
Tsai open to ECFA debate
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Spokesman Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) yesterday said DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) had never shied away from a direct open debate with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on the issue of signing an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China. If Ma was sincere about holding a debate, he should send an official invitation to Tsai instead of spreading the message via media, Hsiao said. The Ma administration has said that if Taiwan does not sign an ECFA with Beiing, it risks being economically marginalized and losing its industrial competitiveness. The government says it hopes to sign the agreement early next year. Critics, however, have warned that the agreement would jeopardize Taiwan's sovereignty, make it too economically dependent on China and lead to an influx of Chinese capital and goods. The DPP yesterday said the Ma administration had failed to disclose the facts of the trade pact to the public. Therefore, it is “meaningless” to have a debate on the issue when neither the DPP nor the public have a thorough understanding of its content, Hsiao said.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
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