Activist groups commenced a new series of “Bluebird movement” activities in Taoyuan on Monday night, beginning nationwide public forums and recall drives aiming to oust Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators who “rammed through three amendments to destroy Taiwan’s democracy.”
At a parking lot behind Taoyuan Railway Station, Economic Democracy Union (EDU) convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) criticized “those power-abusive KMT legislators” and told the audience that “we must hold them accountable for their actions in the legislature... We cannot allow them to deprive us of our democratic rights and to steal Taiwan’s democracy.”
Lai called on those present to join a civil disobedience and resistance campaign to fight what he called the “extremist group” in the KMT led by caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁).
Photo: Lin Min-chen, Taipei Times
“This Fu extremist group has carried out so many political maneuvers that the result is a serious crisis facing society and the government. It is not like the old days when the KMT regime imposed martial law and it had total control of the Legislative Yuan. It is time for the democracy movement to rise up again,” Lai said.
He concluded his address by getting the audience, estimated at more than 800, to shout out the slogans: “Defend Taiwanese democracy” and: “Oust KMT legislators,” before outlining a series of “Bluebird movement” activities in cities and counties nationwide.
After launching recall drives against KMT legislators elected in Taoyuan, events are also scheduled in New Taipei City on Thursday next week, in Taichung on Jan. 8, and in Hsinchu and Miaoli counties on Jan. 15, Lai said, adding that there are also plans for activities in Hualien and Taitung counties, but the dates are still under consideration.
EDU and Taiwan Citizen Front officials said they are working to organize three main activities — launching recall drives, civil disobedience and holding KMT legislators accountable at public events.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS