The China Post
Date: January 22, 2017
By: The China Post news staff
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Around 30,000 demonstrators are expected to protest against pension reform outside
Wire fences are up as the Presidential Office prepares to open a national conference on pension reform in Taipei on Saturday, Jan. 21. (CNA)
the Presidential Palace on Sunday morning, according to a pension reform supervision action alliance.
Lee Lai-hsi, deputy convener of the alliance, said Saturday morning that demonstrators would gather on the Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Palace at 2 p.m. Sunday so as not to affect a large year-end lunch event hosted by the government for homeless people.
Nevertheless, Lee said that there would be protesters outside the Presidential Palace to “welcome President Tsai Ing-wen” at 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning.
In addition, a hunger strike initiated by alliance organizer Huang Yao-nan on Jan. 16 to protest unreasonable pension reforms would continue in front of the Legislative Yuan, the alliance said.
President Tsai to open conference
To avoid clashes, police in Taipei employed traffic control measures, set up control areas and established roadblocks on Friday night to prevent protesters from accessing the Presidential Palace.
As many as 2,000 policemen are set to be deployed.
The national conference on pension reform will open at 9:00 a.m. Sunday, with President Tsai to speak at the opening session and Vice President Chen Chien-jen to deliver a report on the pension reform packages, according to Central News Agency (CNA). [FULL STORY]
