One day after a heated candidates' debate, the three major contenders in the Hualien County commissioner by-election worked feverishly yesterday to solicit support.
The DPP's flag bearer in the race, You Ying-lung (
Chen, also a deputy superintendent of the institute, said Hualien's diverse ethnic groups, including Min-nan, Hakka and several Aboriginal tribes, provide abundant human resources for developments in cultural creativity, software engineering and agricultural bio-technology.
PHOTO: YANG YI-CHUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
You has made developing these sectors a major campaign promise.
Students from the institute's national policing class, female public administration class and Aboriginal affairs class -- representing elites from all walks of life -- yesterday gathered in Hualien to campaign for You, who made the power of intellect one of his campaign appeals.
While promising to improve education and the overall investment environment in Hualien, You said he will invite Chen to use her expertise in marketing to boost Hualien' s development.
Chen's trip to Hualien marked her debut at a campaign event.
She gave You advice on how to attract investment to Hualien, which has been seen as a backwater compared with other parts of the country.
Another heavyweight campaigner Lee Ming-liang (
Lee expressed his wish for a campaign free of vote-buying and encouraged You to continue to his push for clean campaigns.
The pan-blue candidate, Hsieh Shen-shan (謝深山), received support yesterday from PFP Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung (張昭雄), who sought to reinforce Hsieh's image as the orthodox representative of the alliance and to dent support for Wu Wu Kuo-tung (吳國棟), a KMT splinter candidate.
Chang accused You of being arrogant and boastful about his high-level of education.
In a televised debate on Saturday, You said Hualien residents were "people with low democratic spirit."
According to Chang, "That's why so many people in Taiwan are dissatisfied with our education reform, because some people think themselves more capable simply because they have a better education."
Independent candidate Wu, a KMT renegade, said he wants to finish a project he began when he was a commissioner in the early 1990s -- to make Hualien an academic center through the establishment of more universities and to improve the county's bio-technology sector.
He also dismissed an accusation from Hsieh that he neglected the welfare of landowners during a land-acquisition case in the late 1980s when he was county commissioner.
"I procured the land with tremendous efficiency in five months and ensured that landowners got compensation three times higher than the market price," Wu said yesterday.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
RSS