actually the political scene in sg is not so interesting.
others more interesting.... . . . like USA and Taiwan.
Taiwanese stage big protest against
govt
They demand
Premier's ouster, end to media control by pro-China
firms
By LEE SEOK HWAI
TAIWAN CORRESPONDENT
TAIPEI - Up to 150,000 Taiwanese took to the streets of Taipei
yesterday in protest against the "useless" administration of
President Ma Ying-jeou amid lacklustre economic growth and
misgivings over the island's increasingly cosy ties with China.
In the largest anti-government protest since Mr
Ma's re-election last year, they demanded the resignation of
Premier Sean Chen, whose Cabinet has proposed or introduced a slew
of unpopular policies, including a capital gains tax and an
electricity rate hike.
The protesters also demanded a halt to the sale of
the island's most popular media outlets to pro-China businessmen as
they made their way through the main roads of Taipei beginning at
2pm.
"Sorry, I didn't win the election, and now the
people are suffering," opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen, who remains
popular despite her loss to Mr Ma in last year's presidential
election, said on a stage in front of the presidential office where
the protesters gathered at the end of the march.
Taiwan's growth slowed to about 0.95 per cent last
year, according to local think-tank estimates, while unemployment
remains stuck at over 4 per cent.
"President Ma ought to be ashamed for forcing the
people onto the streets as a result of his incompetence," said Ms
Tsai. She was the headliner of a who's who list of Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP) stalwarts, including former premier Frank
Hsieh and former vice-president Annette Lu, who turned up at the
rally led by party chairman Su Tseng-chang. Seen as a likely
candidate for the 2016 election, Mr Su called on Mr Ma to step
down.
"We want a new Cabinet, new lawmakers, and a new
President," he told the crowd after listing a litany of problems,
including high unemployment, a growing income gap, rising costs of
living, and what he called a monopoly of the media by pro-China
businesses.
A consortium of four Taiwanese companies is seeking
to buy Hong Kong-based Next Media Group's print and television
business in Taiwan, including the top-selling Apple Daily and Next
Magazine, for a total of NT$17.5 billion (S$740.6 million).
One of the businessmen, Want Want China Times Group
president Tsai Shao-chung, also owns China Television, satellite
channel CtiTV and newspapers Want Daily and China Times. All are
seen as friendly to Beijing.
Mr Ma's ruling Kuomintang last Friday rejected an
anti-monopoly media law proposed by the DPP, calling it hasty and
ill thought-out.
Said Mr Su: "Step by step, the Chinese Communist
government is invading our island, our households, our brains."
Mr Ma, whose popularity has dropped to 13 per cent,
spent the day marking the 25th anniversary of the death of former
President Chiang Ching-kuo. He declined to comment on the rally
when asked.
But presidential spokesman Fan Chiang Tai-chi said
last night that the Ma administration was already working to
address the issues highlighted at the protest. He called on the
opposition to stop the "internal struggle" and offer constructive
solutions instead.
Top of the news, The Straits Times, Monday, January 14 2013
