The Republic of China (Taiwan) Centenary Foundation was officially inaugurated yesterday to plan a series of events to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China (ROC) next year.
“The foundation’s board comprises individuals from government and the private sector because the foundation will incorporate both efforts from the government and from the private sector in planning a series of events beginning in October this year to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the ROC,” foundation executive director Tsai Shih-ping (蔡詩萍) said. “With the activities to come, we will not only remember the past, but also pray for the prosperity of the country for the next 100 years.”
SYMBOLIC
For the symbolic gesture of naming the foundation — removing a red cloth that covers a plaque bearing the name of the foundation, usually performed by government officials or celebrities — 35 elementary students were brought in because children symbolize the future of the country, the organizer said.
The children also suggested ideas for the celebration.
“We should fly 100 balloons with wishes from 100 people into the sky,” one child said.
“We should display specimens of 100 species of butterflies unique to Taiwan at the butterfly exhibition area in the Taipei Zoo,” another said.
Meanwhile, Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), who attended the ceremony as the honorary chairman of the foundation, said he hoped the celebrations would improve Taiwan’s international image.
The ROC’s centennial celebrates the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty by revolutionaries led by Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) and the founding of the ROC in 1911.
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The cosponsors of a new US sanctions package targeting Russia on Thursday briefed European allies and Ukraine on the legislation and said the legislation would also have a deterrent effect on China and curb its ambitions regarding Taiwan. The bill backed by US senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal calls for a 500 percent tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations such as China and India, which account for about 70 percent of Russia’s energy trade, the bankroll of much of its war effort. Graham and Blumenthal told The Associated Press
RSS