Tech billionaire Robert Tsao (曹興誠), one of the initiators of recall campaigns targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, today announced a 16-day “national pilgrimage” tour as part of the lead-up to recall voting day.
Twenty-four KMT lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are facing recall votes on July 26. The Central Election Commission is still reviewing recall bids against seven lawmakers.
The KMT is working with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to undermine Taiwan’s values, said Tsao, who led the recall campaign against KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯).
Photo: Chiang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Taiwan must use this recall as a chance to say “no” and oppose unification, the United Microelectronics Corp founder told a news conference.
The results of the votes would be consequential for Taiwan's democracy, Tsao said, adding that if the KMT's lawmakers are not ousted, they would return to the legislature "reinvigorated."
The pilgrimage is scheduled to start on Friday next week in Hualien and representatives from 31 recall campaign groups from across the country would be joining it. It would head south toward Taitung before circling Taiwan clockwise.
The pilgrimage would end on July 19 at Qingdao E Road in Taipei, the site of last year’s “Bluebird movement” protests against bills proposed by the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party.
Asked yesterday about the recall movement being framed around communism and defending Taiwan, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) said that people in Taiwan should oppose political manipulation by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
DPP legislative caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) today said the recalls are not China’s concern and that Taiwan's democracy does not need its input.
DPP spokeswoman Han Ying (韓瑩) said the party hopes that the pro-Taiwan, anti-communist stance will reinforce national unity, adding that President William Lai's (賴清德) series of 10 speeches emphasize Taiwan’s democratic values.
Meanwhile, the KMT is planning a large-scale rally on July 25 on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei, with supporting activities throughout the weeks leading up to the recall vote, sources within the party said.
The activities include anti-recall rallies in Taipei on July 5, rallies in New Taipei City and Taichung on July 19, and in Taoyuan on July 20, among other events, the sources said.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) called the series of events a “golden week” that would feature appearances by major figures within the KMT, including Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), former Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) and KMT mayors.
Separately, the Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that two people be detained for two months without visitation rights in connection with suspected forgeries in the recall campaign targeting DPP New Taipei City Councilor Evalyn Chen (陳乃瑜).
Mou Wei-hui (繆維蕙), the director of KMT Legislator Lo Ming-tsai’s (羅明才) Sindian District (新店) office, and Liu Shih-chun (劉時郡), an aide, were ordered to be held and detained incommunicado, while Lin Tzu-ling (林姿伶), another aide, was released on NT$200,000 bail.
Additional reporting by Chang Wen-chuan
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The cosponsors of a new US sanctions package targeting Russia on Thursday briefed European allies and Ukraine on the legislation and said the legislation would also have a deterrent effect on China and curb its ambitions regarding Taiwan. The bill backed by US senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal calls for a 500 percent tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations such as China and India, which account for about 70 percent of Russia’s energy trade, the bankroll of much of its war effort. Graham and Blumenthal told The Associated Press