The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused former Tuntex chairman Chen Yu-hao (
DPP campaign spokesperson Wu Nai-jen (
"This is hard evidence that Chen is indeed a tool of China to sway the election," Wu said.
Wu said that China has long tried to help nurture a pro-Beijing political power in Taiwan and to achieve that, it has used all possible means to influence the results of Taiwan's presidential elections.
Wu said China failed in 1996 and 2000 to defeat the presidential candidates it disliked through military exercises and intimidating rhetoric. In this year's election, he said, China has used various methods to try to prevent President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) re-election.
First, Wu said, China has allowed the pan-blue Taiwanese businesspeople in that country to publicly campaign for the pan-blue presidential ticket. It has also helped with the mobilization of Taiwanese businesspeople to return home to vote for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Second, he said, China has labeled Chen a "separatist" for trying to undermine its "one China" principle by holding a referendum.
Third, he said, it has used such threatening rhetoric as "the referendum will lead to a war across the Taiwan Strait" and "China's ballistic missiles are no threat to Taiwan."
Fourth, Wu said, China has tried to use the reports of the arrests of alleged Taiwanese spies and accusations made by Chen Yu-hao to attack the president.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary