Organizers of the annual “Autumn Struggle” yesterday said that protesters would walk from Pingtung County to the Presidential Office Building in Taipei to highlight their opposition to “ractopamine pork, double standards and one-party rule.”
Event convener Huang Te-pei (黃德北) said that organizers hope to garner support for a “yes” vote in two of the national referendums scheduled for Dec. 18.
One of the four referendum questions calls for a ban on pork imports containing traces of the leanness-enhancing additive ractopamine, while another seeks to block a liquefied natural gas terminal from being built near algal reefs off Datan Borough (大潭) in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音).
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
“On the walk, we hope to talk with civil organizations and groups in the hope of gathering support to voice our displeasure on Dec. 18,” Huang told a news conference in Taipei.
Lin Tzu-wen (林子文), one of the leaders of the group, said that they would start the walk from Pingtung tomorrow and aim to reach Yunlin County in 12 days.
The planned route is to take them through 13 municipalities and counties before arriving on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei on Dec. 12, Lin said.
They are to hold talks in front of train stations, temples and other public places at 7:30am each morning as the walk progresses, he said.
People are welcome to listen to the talks or walk with the group to learn more about the issues that those on the march advocate, he said.
Environmentalist Pan Chong-cheng (潘忠政), who initiated the referendum seeking to block the building of Taiwan’s third liquefied natural gas terminal at its proposed site off Taoyuan, said he was touched that the organizers were willing to support reef protection.
Su Wei-shuo (蘇偉碩), a clinical psychologist who attended last year’s protests and who is to participate again this year, said that none of the demands regarding banning pork containing traces of ractopamine, and fighting double standards and one-party rule had been met.
In last year’s protest, more than 50,000 people backed by 42 labor groups walked from Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building to the headquarters of the Democratic Progressive Party on Beiping E Road in Taipei.
The Autumn Struggle is one of Taiwan’s oldest domestic labor demonstrations.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS