The three main Taipei mayoral candidates — independent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) and the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Pasuya Yao (姚文智) — yesterday canvassed the streets on vehicles before rounding up their campaigns at mass evening rallies.
Ko held his rally in Four Four South Village in Xinyi District (信義), Ting staged his on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building, and Yao held his at the Taipei City Hall Plaza on Shifu Road.
More than 4,000 police were deployed last night to maintain safety on the eve of the elections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Teng Chia-chi (鄧家基) said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The Taipei Police Department said that the three rallies were monitored by different police precincts.
Ko’s campaign rally began at 6pm with performances by artists and musicians. Two Taipei deputy mayors — Teng of the New Party and Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) of the DPP — stressed Ko’s wish for Taiwan to go “beyond blue and green” while on stage.
Ko arrived at the rally at 9pm, walking through the large crowd of supporters and clapping their hands on his way.
Photo: CNA
Ko’s campaign office said an estimated 40,000 people were at the rally when he arrived.
Ko said that holding the rally at Four Four South Village, the remains of a military complex, symbolized that city residents can have different backgrounds, but a shared future, a future that is open to the world like nearby Taipei 101.
“Being attacked by both the pan-blue and pan-green camps, I am really in a state of emergency,” Ko said, urging people to vote today.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
He ended by saying: “We need to win, and we must win.”
Ting’s rally began at 7pm, with Ting walking through a large crowd of almost 20,000 people, who passionately greeted him by waving the national flag as he boarded the main stage.
KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) joined Ting on stage and said Taipei has not progressed in the past four years, citing the suspended Taipei Dome construction project as an example, and blaming the DPP for causing tensions in cross-strait relations and for the serious flooding in southern Taiwan in August.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and several KMT legislators also spoke at Ting’s rally.
Ting said Taiwan and Taipei are seriously injured, and the DPP and Ko’s administrative performance resulted in people earning low salaries and left many young people unemployed.
As it is painful for him to see Taipei losing its competitive edge, Ting said he urged people to vote for him to bring prosperity back to the city.
Yao’s rally began at 7pm and he arrived at 8:10pm, also by walking through a large crowd of supporters, who cheered for him by waving green flags and yellow banners that read TAIWAN TAIPEI.
Yao asked supporters to hold up their cellphone lights and sang the song You Raise Me Up to express his gratitude to his supporters for backing him through the difficult election.
Centenarian Taiwanese independence advocate Su Beng (史明) was seen at Yao’s rally.
As of 8pm, DPP spokeswoman Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that more than 30,000 people had attended the rally.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) gave a speech at 9:45pm before the rally ended at 10pm.
Additional reporting by CNA
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source