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TSU member tries to throw chicken at
Ma
By Mo Yan-chih / Staff reporter
Taiwan Solidarity Union Tainan
City branch director Chen Chang-hui is blocked by security guards as he tries to
throw a live chicken at President Ma Ying-jeou to protest against the
government’s H7N9 avian influenza policies when Ma visited Greater Tainan
yesterday.
Photo: Lin Meng-ting, Taipei Times
A pan-green supporter yesterday failed in
an attempt to throw a chicken at President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) during Ma’s visit
to Greater Tainan to attend a forum with local Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
members.
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Tainan City branch director Chen Chang-hui (陳昌輝)
protested against Ma’s visit outside the building of the KMT’s Tainan branch,
and tried to throw a live chicken at Ma when he arrived.
His attempt failed after security guards blocked him 20m from the president and
seized the chicken.
Shouting “Step down, Ma Ying-jeou,” Chen said the protest was aimed at
highlighting the Ma administration’s poor handling of anti-avian flu efforts
following the nation’s first case of H7N9 avian influenza last week.
Ma, who also serves as KMT chairman, kept to his schedule and met with party
members to discuss government policies, including the pension reform efforts and
the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市)
Gongliao District (貢寮).
The president said that the Labor Pension Fund and the pension fund for retired
military personnel, teachers and civil servants are set to become bankrupt in
2019 and 2031 respectively, if the government did not begin pension reform now.
“I cannot leave this issue unsolved because the bankruptcy of the funds won’t
happen during my term. I must plan for the next generations,” he said.
As to the controversies about the construction of the nuclear plant, Ma said
issues such as electricity fees and electricity restrictions should be
considered when determining whether to continue the construction of the plant.
The government has proposed a national referendum to determine the future of the
plant. The proposed referendum cleared a vote in the legislature last week,
paving the way for the plebiscite proposal to be passed in June.
If the proposal passes a second and third reading, a referendum would be held no
sooner than one month and no later than six months later, without being subject
to a screening by the Executive Yuan’s Referendum Review Committee.
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