The Formosa Alliance (喜樂島聯盟) yesterday in Taichung held the first meeting of its full organization, calling on its supporters to demand a referendum on formally declaring independence on April 6 next year.
Formosa TV chairman Kuo Pei-hung (郭倍宏) said the group plans to first push the legislature to amend the Referendum Act (公民投票法) before Aug. 31, then hold an independence referendum next year.
The referendum would hopefully help Taiwan achieve its goals of becoming a “normalized” nation and gaining international recognition, Kuo said, adding: “We want to become a normalized country.”
Kuo’s plan acknowledged that the referendum would not be allowed under current law, as the act does not allow questions on constitutional matters.
The target date was chosen to mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕), a Taiwan independence and democracy advocate who self-immolated on April 7, 1989, in defense of “100 percent freedom of expression,” Kuo said.
More than 5,000 supporters attended the event, including former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) and New Power Party Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌).
A domestically developed “suicide drone,” also known as a loitering munition, would be tested and evaluated in July, and could enter mass production next year, Taiwan’s weapons developer said on Wednesday. The yet-to-be-named drone was among nine drone models unveiled by the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) on Tuesday. The drone has been dubbed the “Taiwanese switchblade” by Chinese-language media, due to its similarity to the US-made AeroVironment Switchblade 300, which has been used by Ukraine in counterattacks during Russia’s invasion. It has a range of more than 10km, a flight time of more than 15 minutes, and an electro-optical
OFFLINE: People who do not wish to register can get the money from select ATMs using their bank card, ID number and National Health Insurance card number Online registration for NT$6,000 (US$196.32) cash payments drawn from last year’s tax surplus is to open today for eligible people whose national ID or permanent residency number ends in either a zero or a one, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Officials from the ministry revealed which days Taiwanese and eligible foreigners would be able to register for the cash payments at a joint news conference with the Ministry of Digital Affairs. Online registration is to open tomorrow for those whose number ends in a two or three; on Friday for those that end in a four or five: on Saturday
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are investigating why a Starlux Airlines flight to Penang, Malaysia, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport nearly two hours after takeoff yesterday morning. The airline said in a statement that Flight JX721 to Penang took off from Taoyuan airport at 9:20am. “After the dashboard showed a signal of an abnormality in the hydraulic system, the captain followed standard operating procedures and returned the flight to Taoyuan airport for safety precautions,” the airline said, adding that the flight landed safely at the airport at 11:04am. The airline arranged for the passengers to have lunch after the flight landed and
TECH PROGRAM: A US official said that an important part of the delegation’s trip would be to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co executives The US is to send officials in charge of chip development to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea to promote cooperation in the global semiconductor supply chain, the US Department of Commerce said on Tuesday. Chips Program Office Director Michael Schmidt announced the visit, which marks the first time officials from the office are to visit the three nations since it was set up in September last year. “As semiconductors and technologies continue to evolve, the United States will keep working with allies and partners to develop coordinated strategies to ensure that malign actors cannot use the latest technologies to undermine our collective
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