The negotiations over presidential debates which were aborted yesterday morning will resume on Sunday, as Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
The negotiations regarding the TV debates between the candidates reached an impasse, as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) campaign headquarters refused to attend the meeting held at the Howard Plaza Hotel in Taipei yesterday morning.
The DPP said that they would not attend because they felt the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party (PFP) alliance was insincere about negotiating a solution, having assigned three negotiators whose rank and stature were not commensurate with the representatives dispatched by the DPP.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) campaign headquarters chief Wu Nai-jen (
The DPP nominated Taipei County Commissioner and national campaign manager Su Tseng-chang (
However, instead of assigning Ma, its national campaign manager, the pan-blues appointed one of their spokesmen, Yu Tzu-shiang (游梓翔), KMT policy convener Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) and PFP legislative leader Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), also the deputy director of the pan--blues' policy department, as the DPP's counterparts.
Wu said Ma had publicly urged the presidential candidates to face off in a televised debate on the referendum issue, had personally invited the Public Television Service to host the presidential debate and had even come up with a debate topic. But now Ma exposed his insincerity by shunning the task of organizing the debates and was hiding behind the scenes, having kicked over the hornet's nest in fomenting a battle about the debate issue.
Yu yesterday said Ma's absence during the negotiation was due to the fact that Ma was busy with his municipal activities, and was thus unable to participate in the negotiations. Yu also added that the TV debates held in the past were not necessarily arranged by a campaign manager, and this debate was no different.
Ma said yesterday morning that he did not think that he was an indispensable part of the negotiations, as long as pan-blue headquarters had duly authorized the three representatives.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique