Hundreds of former Republic of China Marine Corps members gathered at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei yesterday to protest the Ministry of National Defense’s plan to put the Marine Corps under the command of the Republic of China Army.
While delivering a report to the Legislative Yuan in March, Minster of National Defense Yen Ming (嚴明) said that the ministry was considering merging the Marine Corps into the army in an initiative called the Yong Ku project.
“We do not believe President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) promise that the Yong Ku project will not result in the total disbanding the Marine Corps and the military police headquarters,” protest convener Hsu Ting-pang (許定邦) said yesterday, adding that even if the corps were not disbanded, the merger would still weaken it too much.
Photo: CNA
Hsu said he hoped the protest would encourage the country to strengthen national consciousness education, be 100 percent forthcoming toward the dangers facing it, increase defense spending and bolster the procurement of weapons and defensive equipment.
“We hope the government will rescind its policy of having an all-volunteer armed forces and return to the half-compulsory, half-voluntary system,” Hsu said, adding that the demonstrators also want the government to reinstate the policy of keeping garrisons on outlying islands, as well as carry out a review on the current formation of the armed forces.
“The nation should seek to re-establish its dignity and forbid its retired generals from visiting China,” Hsu said.
The former marines call themselves the “Fire Ants” in a nod to the red shirts they wore for the event that bore the words “A Marine for a day, A Marine for Life.”
Hsu said yesterday was the second time the group has met to convey a message to the government, adding that the rally attended by hundreds of former marines had been three weeks in the planning.
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716