In a bid to maximize its legislative seats, the DPP yesterday decided to expand its vote allocation strategy to four more constituencies.
"The party's Central Standing Committee has reached a resolution that the strategy for vote allocation should be employed and reinforced in constituencies in Tainan and Nantou Counties and Kaohsiung City's southern and northern districts, following the example of Taipei's constituencies," the party's Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Yang-ming (
The party is already using the strategy in Taipei City's southern and northern constituencies.
Hsu urged DPP supporters to distribute their votes evenly to DPP candidates in order to increase the party's gains in the election.
After a discussion on the matter in the committee's meeting earlier yesterday, DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (
Hsieh said that the party's polls indicate that gaps of support for DPP candidates in the constituencies were widely divided and the highly-supported candidates' ratings could be as much as five to ten times higher than those who have barely enough support to be elected.
Hsieh said that the committee believes that if Taipei City's strategy for vote allocation is adopted in these constituencies, the election prospects of five candidates who currently face an uphill battle would turn promising.
"If the strategy is successfully put into action, five seats could certainly be gained. If not, at least there would be two to three seats secured," Hsieh said, adding that the party's central headquarters would pass on the strategy to local divisions for implementation.
Hsieh added,"If the candidate who has the most votes could allow some of his votes to go to the candidates with not enough votes to get elected, he will help increase the party's total seats."
Ten DPP candidates in Taipei's southern and northern districts have announced their plans to court votes from supporters in accordance with the final digits of voters' ID numbers. For example, voters in Taipei City's northern district whose ID card numbers end in "one" or "two" are asked to vote for Lan Shih-tsung (藍世聰), while those whose numbers end in "three" or "four" are asked to vote for Lo Wen-chia (羅文嘉). In other constituencies, voters' birth dates are used as a means for determining how to distribute votes among DPP candidates, according to party plans.
The committee yesterday also finalized a proposal that stipulates all party candidates must endorse the party's legislative reform plans, which include cutting the 225-member legislature by half and implementing a single district/two votes system after the elections.
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
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
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
‘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