Only two days after the People First Party (PFP) tried to boost its electoral prospects by nominating its chairman as a candidate for legislator-at-large, scandal threatened to envelop the party yesterday when former Miaoli County legislator Robert Hsu (
The PFP finalized its slate of nominees for legislator-at-large last Saturday, listing 26 candidates with Hsu at number 11. Hsu then turned down the nomination which he evidently got for free in the end anyway.
On Tuesday, the party nominated James Soong (
Hsu yesterday said Soong had said in July that the party would nominate Hsu as one of the legislator-at-large candidates. Hsu said that, just after Soong made this promise, the party's Secretary General David Chung (
Chung denied Hsu's accusation but conceded that he had met Hsu "for a chat" at the end of September. Chung said that it was natural for him to meet regularly with party members, and that all he had discussed with Hsu was prospects in Miaoli County for the elections but that money had not been mentioned at all. Hsu used to represent Miaoli County in the Legislative Yuan.
In a bid to prevent the incident from casting a dark cloud over the party's election campaign, Hsieh Kung-ping (謝公秉), the PFP's spokesman, sought to clarify matters at a press conference yesterday.
"To the party, donations and the party's rankings of legislator-at-large nominations have nothing to do with each other. The party was seeking donations from Hsu, but that doesn't mean that his donation was a condition of his nomination. We hope that Hsu can understand the realities," Hsieh said.
Hsieh added that the party appreciates what Hsu had done for the party and hopes he can rejoin the party soon.
Hsu is not the only PFP figure displeased about the party's legislator-at-large nominations. Shaw Chong-hai (邵宗海) a former aide to Soong, resigned from the party after failing to win a nomination. Wang Tien-ching(王天競), a sitting PFP legislator who had been considered by some as likely to be nominated also failed to do so. On Sunday he officially registered as an independent legislative candidate.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS