Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jennifer Wang (王如玄) yesterday downplayed New Power Party (NPP) legislative candidate Freddy Lim’s (林昶佐) attempt to discredit KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) by associating him with Wang, who has been dogged by controversies concerning her sales of military dependents’ housing units.
Lim is seeking to replace Lin in Taipei’s fifth electoral constituency, which covers Zhongzheng (中正) and Wanhua (萬華) districts.
“Supporting Jennifer Wang is tantamount to supporting labor workers, women and children. It requires our collective effort to support the disadvantaged,” Wang said on the sidelines of a morning news conference at the KMT headquarters to promote a 3D interactive postcard for the KMT’s presidential ticket.
Photo courtesy of a reader
Wang said that she joined the race so that she could do something for the many underprivileged people in Taiwan.
“Hence, supporting Jennifer Wang is a good thing,” she said.
Wang was responding to questions regarding a red banner produced by Lim’s campaign office that read: “Supporting Lin Yu-fang is tantamount to supporting Jennifer Wang,” which was found hanging below one of Lin’s campaign banners on Hangzhou S Road Sec 2 in Zhongzheng earlier this week.
It is the same size and color and uses the same typeface as Lin’s banner, which bears the slogan: “Lin Yu-fang, worthy of your trust.”
Lim’s creation has aggravated Lin, who shared a picture of the apparently bantering banner on Facebook on Tuesday and lambasted Lim for “having done everything possible to provoke and going too far in bullying others.”
“If everyone resorts to smear tactics during election campaigns, it would be a humiliation for our democratic politics,” Lin said yesterday.
Meanwhile, a supporter of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative candidate Chen Wen-pin (陳文彬) yesterday hung a billboard in Changhua County’s Hemei Township (和美) featuring a picture of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and a slogan reading: “Please support them to prove I have done no wrong.”
The billboard was placed in the middle of two campaign posters depicting Chen’s rival in Changhua’s first electoral constituency, KMT Legislator Wang Hui-mei (王惠美), with one of them also showing Chu.
Wang Hui-mei said she called the police and demanded the immediate removal of what she called a “slanderous letter.”
Additional reporting by Lin Liang-che
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
STREAMLINED: The dedicated funding would allow the US to transfer equipment to Taiwan when needed and order upgraded replacements for stockpiles, a source said The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a defense appropriations bill totaling US$838.7 billion, of which US$1 billion is to be allocated to reinforcing security cooperation with Taiwan and US$150 million to replace defense articles provided to the nation. These are part of the Consolidated Appropriation Act, which the US House yesterday passed with 341 votes in favor and 88 against. The act must be passed by the US Senate before Friday next week to avoid another government shutdown. The US House Committee on Appropriations on Monday unveiled the act, saying that it allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative