The Republican Party yesterday flexed its organizational muscles with a massive rally along Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei.
Following hours of performances and speeches, each of the party’s legislative candidates symbolically waved the party’s banner, passed to them by party Chairman Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩).
The "Lion of Justice" emblazoned on the banner also served as the theme animal of the rally.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Party volunteers said the lion (獅子) was chosen as the theme animal, because it sounds the same as the character shi (師) that describes a division within the military. It is in that context, the event was officially titled "The Troop of Justice Save Taiwan."
The character shi (師) also has the meaning of "teacher."
The party has received attention because of its close ties with a Buddhist sect led by Master Miao Tien (妙天), to which Hsu belongs. The sect is rumored to have provided funding and other assistance to the fledgling party, which was founded by Hsu in March after she left the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Party officials estimated that more than 20,000 people attended the rally, with the crowd spilling off of Ketagalan Boulevard onto a neighboring traffic circle.
Battalions of volunteers carrying the banners of the party’s individual legislative candidates milled throughout the site, with candidates delivering speeches in a special “soapbox” section.
The event also included a public writing wall and a children’s activity area, as well as booths for people to purchase party paraphernalia and to fill out forms to join the party.
At the back of the rally, people distributed fliers for discounted courses on subjects such as ukulele, congressional politics, political philosophy, organizational development and management, but there was no promotion of classes to “open up the brain’s potential” by Master Miao Tien’s sect.
A retired man surnamed Lin (林) said he joined the party after being approached by a recruiter in a public park, because he liked its philosophy of transcending party differences, adding that he attended the rally to learn more about the party’s specific policy platforms.
Volunteer Aga Yu (于治家) said she joined because of the influence of her teacher, Chang Cheng (張誠), who is one of the party’s legislative candidates.
While she attended a discounted chocolate-making activity organized by the party, she had not heard of there being any “brain potential” classes, she said.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS