Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday braved heavy rain to canvass for votes in Taichung — one of the administrative regions the party considers a decisive battleground in Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections.
Chu, wearing a light-blue jacket and a hat displaying his campaign slogan: “One Taiwan,” arrived in Taichung yesterday morning as scheduled and boarded a vehicle with bulletproof glass.
Chu originally planned to canvass the streets with six of the KMT’s eight candidates who are running for regional legislative seats in the city one-by-one. The six candidates are Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒), Shen Chih-hwei (沈智慧), Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆), Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), Yang Chung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Johnny Chiang (江啟臣).
Photo: AFP
However, Yen was not present due to a scheduling conflict and entrusted his younger sister, Taichung City councilor Yen Li-ming (顏莉敏) of the KMT, to hit the road with Chu on his behalf.
Yen Kuan-heng’s father, former Non-Partisan Solidarity Union legislator Yen Ching-piao (顏清標) — whose family enjoys strong local ties and networks in the city — also came to greet Chu in his son’s stead.
“I have seen that in spite of the heavy rain, many of our supporters are still ardent and enthusiastic... Even though I am soaking wet, wind and rain can bring confidence and I would not let them stop me,” Chu said.
Chu dismissed concerns that Yen Kuan-heng’s absence yesterday is an indication that the KMT leadership is losing its grip on local fractions in Taichung, saying the decision to include Yen Kuan-heng in his street-canvassing schedule was made at the last minute.
“People have read too much into this. Initially, we planned to head directly to the city’s downtown area, but later decided to make another stop [at Yen Kuan-heng’s campaign headquarters],” Chu said.
Asked why Taichung was included in his last-stage campaign schedule and was also the first city he visited after securing the KMT’s nomination as its presidential candidate in October last year, Chu said he regards Taichung as extremely important.
Chu said central Taiwan is undoubtedly a decisive battleground in the upcoming election and the KMT is determined to beat the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the area.
The KMT lost Taichung to the DPP in the 2014 nine-in-one elections, after the city had been governed by former KMT vice chairman Jason Hu (胡志強) for 13 years.
The final stop in Chu’s vehicle procession was the Tzu Chi Temple (慈濟宮) in the city’s Fongyuan District (豐原), where the KMT candidate prayed to the sea goddess Mazu (媽祖) for victory in Saturday’s elections.
Chu traveled back to New Taipei City in the afternoon, where he canvassed in Wugu (五股), Lujhou (蘆洲) and Sanchong (三重) districts.
Meanwhile, Chu’s wife, Kao Wan-chien (高婉倩), visited a traditional market in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋) yesterday morning to solicit support for her husband.
Accompanied by KMT legislative candidate Lin Kuo-chun (林國春) and Lin’s wife, Kao shook hands with vendors and doled out campaign-themed disposable hand warmers to onlookers.
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS