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.
* Su Nan-cheng, who was defeated in the Tainan City mayoral election on Dec. 1, bounced back last night as an independent to win a Tainan City council seat.
* Wu Ko-ching of the KMT, fared not so well. Wu failed to secure a third term as a legislator in December and was defeated yesterday in his bid to become Taoyuan County mayor.
* The speaker of Hsinchu County council, Huang Huan-chi, and former Tainan City major Shih Chih-ming also failed in their comeback runs.
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
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
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
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