Kaohsiung County candidates who fail to take down campaign banners and flags within a week of Saturday's elections will face stiff fines, government officials said yesterday.
Three candidates for county commissioner and 19 legislative hopefuls are vying for public office in Kaohsiung.
DPP County Commissioner Yu Cheng-hsien (
Yu said it was common to see campaign materials around Kaohsiung long after the polls have closed.
And in an county where mountains account for roughly half of the area, removing flags and banners can be difficult.
"The situation will not be tolerated this year," Yu said, who is not running for re-election.
Yu said the county government would soon send a registered letter to candidates to remind them to take down their flags and banners.
According to the Waste Disposal Act, candidates can be fined between NT$1,200 and NT$4,500 for each flag left up after election day.
In addition, Kaohsiung plans to publish a list of candidates found to have violated the act.
Hsieh Chi-yen (
Garbage collectors from local townships will start clearing away banners, flags and posters along main streets beginning at 4pm Saturday. Banners and flags in small alley ways will be cleared within a week.
Although government officials have designated specific places where candidates are permitted to put up campaign flags or post advertisements, not everyone has abided by the rules, with materials appearing outside those areas.
Taipei County has also experienced a similar situation. The county has set aside 37 places for more than 70 candidates to put up flags and banners -- but materials have appeared outside those areas.
In Kaohsiung City, each legislative candidate is allowed to put up 5,500 flags. But the 132 designated areas set aside by the government can only accommodate 158,000 flags -- not enough Kaohsiung's election hopefuls.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique