Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun yesterday denied speculation that he would enter the Taipei mayoral election, as DPP members voted in the first part of primaries to choose candidates for the Taipei and Kaohsiung city elections.
Yesterday's vote was to select both mayoral and city councilor candidates, as well as local-level party delegates.
Kaohsiung landslide
In Kaohsiung, given that DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) had announced she would withdraw from the primary last Thursday, the only remaining candidate, former head of the Council of Labor Affairs Chen Chu (陳菊), won a landslide victory. Chen obtained 16,765 votes, or 79.24 percent of total votes, while Kuan, whose name was still printed on the ballot, gained 4,392 votes, or 20.76 percent of the votes.
Voter turnout for Kaohsiung was 49.34 percent.
The members' vote will count for 30 percent of the weighting under the party's primary mechanism. A telephone poll, which will be conducted early next month, will make up the remaining 70 percent.
In Taipei, the DPP was left without a candidate because no one registered for the primary.
After former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said last Wednesday that he had no intention of joining the Taipei mayoral election race and that the DPP should not wait for him, some speculated that Yu planned to run for the position.
Chairmanship enough
But Yu yesterday said he would not contest the election.
"No one has talked about it [a run for the Taipei mayorship] with me and I have never had this kind of plan, either," Yu said in Ilan County, where he voted in the primaries.
"Now that I am the chairman of the DPP, a position that takes on huge responsibility, I will not escape from it," he said.
"Besides, I have to take care of the elections both in Taipei and Kaohsiung and I will not just pay attention to the Taipei election," Yu added.
Talks with Hsieh
Yu said he still expected Hsieh to become the party's Taipei candidate and had been negotiating with him.
"If Hsieh eventually refuses to take the field, the DPP will enlist another candidate through the party's mechanism."
Meanwhile, when asked his opinion about Yu running for Taipei mayor, Premier Su Tseng-chang (
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS