Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday brushed off speculation over possible vice-presidential contenders for next year’s presidential campaign.
“It’s too early to talk about such things now,” she said in response to reporters’ requests for comment on Tainan Mayor William Lai’s (賴清德) announcement that he would not take part in next year’s presidential election — as a presidential or vice-presidential candidate.
Tsai is seen as the party’s presidential hopeful, though she has yet to formally announce her intention to run.
In the past few weeks, some senior DPP figures, notably former presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏), have shown their support for Lai and encouraged him to run.
However, Lai on Friday said that he would not seek the party’s presidential nomination, adding on Saturday that he would not be a vice presidential candidate either, after Tsai suggested that he should play a role in the election, even if he is not the presidential candidate.
Meanwhile, Tsai yesterday vowed to win at least half of the legislative seats in next year’s legislative elections.
“As the by-elections ... are over, the DPP will now start presenting our own reform proposals for the challenges that the nation faces, and begin to prepare for the next legislative elections,” Tsai said on the sidelines of an event organized by the Thinking Taiwan Foundation in Yilan County. “Our goal is to have the force of our reforms [lead to winning] more than half of the legislative seats.”
Tsai said that the DPP would come up with solutions for every problem the nation faces, so that voters are more confident about putting the DPP in power.
“The DPP will encourage all our capable comrades to take on the task for the party,” she said. “As for those electoral districts that are more challenging for the party, we will also seek to collaborate with other political forces.”
Tsai said that although the DPP did not gain more seats in Saturday’s legislative by-elections, “the number of votes our candidates received in each electoral district has obviously grown,” adding that the party would work harder to gain the trust of voters in Miaoli and Nantou counties.
In the five districts where by-elections were held — Taichung and Miaoli, Nantou, Changhua and Pingtung counties — the DPP retained its seats in Taichung, Changhua and Pingtung, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) kept its seats in Miaoli and Nantou counties.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
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