The DPP's Hsinchu City chapter appealed to the party's headquarters yesterday to prevent Hsinchu Mayor Tsai Jen-chien (
"A verdict has not even been made by the court in Tsai's case. Besides, it is not within the local chapter's authority to get involved in the mayoral election," Hsu Yang-ming (許陽明), party deputy secretary-general, said at a press conference yesterday.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Hsu added that the party's Central Standing Committee would send a letter admonishing the Hsinchu chapter for stepping out of bounds.
Tsai was charged on Saturday for forcing United Microelectronics Corp (
Prosecutors are seeking a two-and-a-half year sentence for Tsai.
"The indictment against Tsai has damaged the party's reputation," argued Yang Lung-yuan (楊隆源), director of the DPP's Hsinchu chapter, who endorsed yesterday's appeal along with six other members.
"We urge the central party headquarters to review Tsai's qualifications for participating in the party's primary," said Yang.
But Yang added that it was up to the party's central review committee to decide whether Tsai should have his party membership suspended, be expelled or be given an oral warning.
Yang also said that the central headquarters had the option to sit back and do nothing until the outcome of Tsai's case was determined.
Tsai, in response to the appeal, expressed his regret over the matter but refused to comment further.
Hsinchu Deputy Mayor Lin Cheng-chieh (
Other DPP officials said the move was meant to "embarrass Tsai."
Meanwhile, the DPP's Justice Alliance faction (
Chen, accompanied by faction leaders Yu Cheng-hsien (
Yu and Kao believe that Chen's fame will help him win office and help the party win votes from Aboriginal groups.
"Even if Chen is called up to run as the party's candidate, it will still be a tough battle," Hsieh told Chen yesterday morning. The DPP has long had a low support rate among Aboriginal groups.
"I will do my best," Chen responded.
"Chen's nomination would become possible if no one is interested in registering [during the primary] since our party will have only one nominee," Liu I-te (劉一德) said. Liu added there was a great possibility that this would happen but it was still too early to tell.
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
RSS