Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) took election seriousness to new heights yesterday, threatening to commit suicide if the public does not make a wise choice.
"The Dec. 1 elections will be a very critical battle for Taiwan's development for the next 20 years. If the public does not make a correct choice, I will commit suicide," he said while campaigning for TSU candidates Lin Jen-teh (
Lee also said that his comparing the KMT to an alien power was based on a solid historic perspective.
"The definition of an alien regime is when the politicians in power do not allow local residents to be involved in politics.
"They lack real feelings toward the land they live on and just consider the land a temporary settlement," Lee said while accepting an award from the Taiwanese-American Foundation (台美基金會).
The foundation gave the former president an "award for special contributions."
Lee said that Taiwan's history shows that the region has never been ruled by the local population. From the Ming and Qing dynasties to "when the KMT arrived in 1949, they continued to forbid Taiwanese from involvement in political activities.
"[The KMT] had a mindset of a tourist; they did not recognize Taiwan. This explains why I described the KMT as an alien regime," Lee said.
The former president noted the country's localization did not occur until 1996 when the first presidential election was held.
But he said social stability in the country has not improved, adding "many people" still do not recognize Taiwan, even after living here for 50 years.
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
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