The DPP's election campaign heated up yesterday afternoon as enthusiastic young members declared themselves devoted to the party during a campaign rally at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
The DPP's Youth Development Department launched the "DPP Youth Camouflage Corp" with the goal of promoting party candidates.
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The "camouflage corporation" was divided into four teams from northern, central, southern and eastern Taiwan. Team members consist of at least 200 students from more than 60 colleges nationwide. They call themselves "democracy protectors of generation `e'" (younger than generation X and better connected electronically) and will do whatever it takes to stop "black-gold" politics.
"The DPP is a young political party," said Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁), the DPP secretary general. "We love to give young people chances and let them show their passion and enthusiasm for politics. We encourage the younger generation to give it a shot and participate in political activities instead of being afraid of making mistakes."
DPP staff members Hsiao Bi-khim (
The KMT launched a similar group of young people eight days ago called the "KMT Youth Corp" to campaign for the party. Unlike the DPP's rally yesterday, the KMT's young members campaigned on their scooters.
The DPP has nominated ten candidates to run for legislative seats in Taipei City constituencies.
The five candidates for the city's northern constituency are Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉), the former vice chairman of the Council for Cultural Affairs; former National Assembly Representative Lan Shih-tsung (藍世聰) and incumbent legislators Wang Hsueh-feng (王雪峰), Lin Chung-mo (林重謨) and Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰).
The five candidates for the southern constituency are Taipei City councilors Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康), Chou Po-ya (周柏雅) and Lan Mei-chin (藍美津); political analyst Julian Kuo (郭正亮) and incumbent lawmaker Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄).
China deployed a record number of coast guard, scientific research and other ships near Taiwan’s waters last month, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said, as Beijing dials up pressure on Taipei. The coast guard warned of an increasingly severe situation, as analysts say the increased activity is part of China’s bid to map the region for submarine warfare. The number of Chinese ships detected around Taiwan proper soared to a record 244 last month — an average of nearly eight every day, official data showed. That compares with 55 ships detected in June and 30 in May, and 58 in July last year. In
Taiwan is bracing for heavy rain in the south and rough seas around outlying Lienchiang County (Matsu), as Typhoon Saudel passes north toward eastern China, with forecasters yesterday warning of localized flooding over the next two days. Saudel is expected to pass closest to Taiwan today, when its outer rain bands are forecast to brush past Matsu, before making landfall at about noon in China’s Zhejiang Province and weakening significantly, the Central Weather Administration said. The storm’s outer bands, combined with strengthening southwesterly winds, are expected to bring heavy rain to southern and southeastern Taiwan today, it said. As the storm approaches Matsu,
LIMITED: The bill’s NT$40bn annual spending cap would prevent Taiwan from effectively building up its drone combat capabilities, National Defense Minister Wellington Koo said The legislature yesterday rejected the Executive Yuan’s NT$210 billion (US$6.62 billion) special budget proposal to buy military drones and instead passed its own plan, which earmarks NT$40 billion per year over six consecutive years. The Executive Yuan said its plan to buy about 210,000 drones by 2031 could not wait, as the wars in Ukraine and Iran showed the importance of uncrewed systems in modern warfare amid a rising threat from China. However, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their opposition majority to pass a bill providing NT$240 billion through annual budgets over six years, with annual
INCREASING IMBALANCE: The percentage of working-age people is expected to shrink to 42.3% of the population, while older people would comprise 52.9%, the agency said Taiwan’s population is projected to shrink by almost half over the next five decades, intensifying labor shortages and placing a growing drag on economic growth as the technology-intensive economy confronts a rapidly aging workforce. The population is expected to fall to 12.15 million by 2075, a 48 percent decline from this year, National Development Council projections released yesterday showed. The decline would fundamentally alter Taiwan’s workforce. From 2037, more than half of the working-age population is projected to be aged between 45 and 64, signaling the end of an era when the economy could rely on a relatively large labor force. The shift