English

Taipei Animal Save Plans to Hold Monthly Vigils

Between 2021 and 2023, Taipei Animal Save held two vigils in front of a Wanhua slaughterhouse – euphemistically and formally known as the Taipei Poultry Wholesale Market. In an Animal Save vigil, activists bear witness to the plight of animals and try to comfort animals on their way to being killed for meat. Typically, Save activists try to negotiate with slaughterhouse owners for permission, or they would take the opportunity to spend time with animals briefly when a truck is parked or stopped at traffic lights. In Taipei, however, industrial-scale slaughterhouses are unlikely to grant permission for activists to visit, and there are no safe locations where activists can interact with animals. Because of this lack of access, activists stationed themselves outside the slaughterhouse, watching the chickens tightly packed in cages from the gate. The vigils started in the late afternoon, but activists did not stay for the slaughter, which typically starts around midnight...

Hou You-yi Emphasizes Opposition to Both “One Country, Two Systems”, Taiwanese Independence

In comments made earlier this week, New Taipei mayor Hou You-yi expressed opposition to both Taiwanese independence and Beijing’s “One Country, Two Systems.” This is among the clearest articulation of a cross-strait stance by the New Taipei mayor to date, with Hou angling for the presidential nomination of the KMT. Otherwise, Hou committed to the defense of the ROC, which includes Matsu, Kinmen, and Penghu...