While New Party presidential candidate Li Ao (
In what he said "could be his farewell speech," Li urged supporters to back independent James Soong (宋楚瑜), saying he was the least harmful of the three leading contenders.
Li has held around 1 percent of public approval ratings through the duration of the race and refused to join the party he was running for.
"When I'm dead, you'll miss me, miss me, miss me," he said.
Li dealt a few parting shots yesterday, comparing himself to a "tampon" who had been used by the political establishment.
"There's a joke about a man who got a magic lamp with a genie inside and made three wishes. His first wish was to live in a palace, and suddenly he was living in a fabulous mansion. His second wish was to have piles of gold, and the genie granted it. His third wish was to spend the rest of his life between a woman's legs. The genie turned him into a tampon," he said.
Colorful rhetoric laced with vulgarity has consistently been a part of Li's campaign. His official platform as listed at the Central Election Commission reads: "Taiwan gets an erection, makes advances toward China, then `Viagras' the whole world."
In his speech yesterday, he advocated that Taiwan unite with China under the "one country, two systems" model so that Taiwan would have a place to send its nuclear waste.
Independent Hsu, formerly a chairman of the DPP, promoted his ticket as a "fourth choice" unbound by constrictions of party or ethnic origin. His running mate, Josephine Chu (朱惠良), is of mainland origin and a former member of the New Party.
The three main contenders remain bound by "19th century thinking about the meaning of nation-states," he said.
"If on March 18 voters continue to vote for candidates with old-fashioned ideas, then Taiwan is really in trouble," Hsu said.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
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