The race to become a DPP candidate for December's legislative elections took a dramatic turn yesterday as Vice Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (
Registration begins on Monday for the DPP primary, which will choose the party's legislative candidates.
DPP authorities have been trying their best to alleviate tension and prevent competition arising between too many high-profile candidates standing in the same constituency. President Chen Shui-bian (
"President Chen has never been supportive of the idea of my participating in the [legislative] campaign. He has always hoped I will stay on in the administrative department," Lee, a longstanding presidential aide, told the media yesterday after meeting with the president.
"The president said he considers me a capable administrator, praised my performance, and said he hoped I would remain," Lee said, adding that Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Lee, who had intended to run in Taipei's northern constituency, said that he had taken the supportive words of senior colleagues into account when deciding not to stand.
Lee's announcement has eased the tense election battle for the northern Taipei constituency, where the competition has been fierce since Luo Wen-chia (
In the meantime, Hsiao Bi-khim, Chen's translator and the woman at the center of recent allegations that the president was having an extramarital affair, yesterday made public her desire to enter the race.
For the past few weeks, reports have been circulating that Hsiao might run for a seat representing overseas Chinese communities. Each party is allotted a number of "overseas representatives" in proportion to the total votes won at the ballot box. Under intense pressure from the media of late, Hsiao yesterday said that she had decided to participate in the election.
Hsiao has been the focus of media attention since she was embroiled in rumors that she and the president were having an affair early last November. Subsequently she was also attacked by opposition lawmakers for holding a post at the Presidential Office as a US citizen.
Since Hsiao first considered running, she is reported to have sought advice from DPP party elders, all of whom support her decision.
Hsiao's decision has been endorsed by DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (
After Luo Wen-chia and Vice Chairman of the Executive Yuan's Research, Development and Evaluation Commission You Ying-lung (游盈隆) -- two proteges of the president -- announced their resignation from their Cabinet posts, Hsiao's participation will further raise interest in the legislative race.
Hsiao will hold a press conference today in her home city of Tainan to make an official announcement of her decision and detail the reasons behind it.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary