Demonstrators outside the Legislative Yuan yesterday finished a three-day protest against reform bill packages proposed by opposition parties. Event organizers said that more than 30,000 people joined the protest last night.
The three-day protests, which are part of the “Bluebird movement” — protest against legislative reform bills proposed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers, who say they are to enhance the power of the legislature — were organized by more than 50 civil society groups.
The event organizers said yesterday that their efforts would continue in the coming weeks.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
They said they would form six working groups to continue to monitor the legislative process and oppose enacting the bills.
“It is the consolidation of ‘six strong forces’ of civil society groups to scrutinize and track the legislative process,” said Hsu Kuan-tse (許冠澤), deputy secretary of the Economic Democracy Union, which was one of the organizers of the protests.
Hsu said that the working groups would focus on the specific scope of the bills, including the KMT’s attempt to restart the Special Investigation Division, construct three major transportation projects in eastern Taiwan, regain control of China Youth Corps assets, restore the operating license of CTi TV News, raise the threshold for recalls against elected representatives and water down the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法).
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
“This week’s ‘Bluebird’ gathering has shown the strength of Taiwan’s civil society ... each day has seen thousands of people participating at these outdoor lectures and speeches, who were not deterred by the scorching heat and thunder storms, and showed their courage and determination to protest outside the Legislative Yuan,” Taiwan Citizen Front executive Lo Yi (羅宜) said.
“We are here to condemn KMT and TPP lawmakers who obey the instruction of their party leaders, for which they stand contrary to the public will. They will certainly pay the price,” Lo said.
Other speakers said that a number of constituencies have started recall campaigns against KMT legislators.
The KMT yesterday mobilized its supporters to stage a counter-protest nearby the Bluebird protesters on the other side of the closed section of the road. No violent incidents were reported.
KMT officially named their counterprotest the “Blue Eagle Action.” Participants convened in their thousands and listened to speeches by KMT politicians on stage. They also spoke about initiating recall campaing against DPP legislators.
The two sites were separated by metal barriers, and a large number of police officers were on duty to ensure people kept to their own section and no scuffles broke out.
The “Blue Eagle Action” protesters arrived shortly after 8am, and they departed by midday.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS