Among the candidates celebrating their local election victories yesterday was a former political heavyweight who staged a successful comeback after his defeat in December's legislative and city mayor elections.
Su Nan-cheng (
Su, 66, was once Kaohsiung City mayor and an adviser to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). He also served two terms as Tainan City mayor from 1977 to 1985 and was the speaker of the National Assembly in 1999.
With such a lengthy resume, however, Su's political career was once regarded by some to have reached an end.
Su stepped down as speaker of the National Assembly and was expelled from his party, the KMT, in 1999 after being accused of violating party orders.
The accusations stemmed from Su's decision to allow assembly deputies to vote a second time during the second reading of the controversial amendment on term extensions.
Su's victory last night was seen as a confidence boost for the former speaker as he bounced back onto the stage where he had once shined.
However, Wu Ko-ching (
The speaker of Hsinchu County council, Huang Huan-chi (
Huang is well known for his alleged involvement in a vote-buying scandal during the campaign for the Dec. 1 elections.
Huang was accused of using the county council's budget for personal use to purchase tea and moon cakes for voters.
He was later released on bail for health reasons.
Shih Chih-ming (施治明), a former Tainan City mayor, was also unsuccessful in his campaign to win a seat on the city council.
Like Huang, Shih was unsuccessful in his campaign for the Dec. 1 election.
Earlier this week, Shih, an independent, was indicted by Tainan City's Prosecutors' Office for alleged corruption during his term as the city's mayor from 1993 to 1997.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
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