President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday honored the 30th anniversary of the first direct presidential election in Taiwan, calling on the legislature to pass a special defense budget to “safeguard” the country’s democracy and freedom.
In a social media post, Lai said that March 23, 1996, was the day the people of Taiwan “bravely went to the polls and cast their historic votes,” electing their own president and becoming “the true masters of our country.”
In the run-up to the election, Lai recalled, China launched missiles into the Taiwan Strait and held military exercises, attempting to intimidate Taiwanese and prevent them from going to the polls.
Photo: Screen grab from President William Lai’s Facebook page
Although some people at the time warned that direct presidential elections were a “provocation” against China and could trigger a war, Taiwanese nevertheless cast their votes, “opening the door to freedom and democracy for the next generation,” he said.
Lai said that if the people had given up 30 years ago, “viewing their right to freedom as a provocation against authoritarianism,” there would be no democratic and prosperous Taiwan today.
“It was their courage and perseverance 30 years ago” that has allowed Taiwan’s vibrant,
Photo: Screen grab from the party’s Facebook page
democratic growth, he said.
Today, “everyone must have the same courage to continue to walk confidently and firmly on the path of democracy,” he said.
In closing his message, Lai said yesterday the Legislative Yuan began reviewing the government’s proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$38.95 billion) special defense budget.
Just as some used to say direct presidential elections were a provocation against China, some say now that “as long as there are compromises with authoritarianism, there is no need to strengthen national defense,” Lai said.
“However, the answer to this was already given to us by the people of Taiwan 30 years ago,” he said. “Democracy is never a provocation; only determination, perseverance and strength can safeguard” democracy and freedom.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
RSS