In a bid to attract more Hakka votes away from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) visited former Hualien County commissioner Wu Kuo-tung (吳國棟), a leading Hakka politician in his county, on Thursday night, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) sources said yesterday.
This was at least the second visit Chen has made to Wu during the past three months to overcome animosity generated during the Hualien County commissioner by-election last August.
During the campaign, Chen said Wu was "guilty of being involved with financial scandals," an accusation Wu angrily denied.
Wu, a former member of the KMT, ran an independent campaign after criticizing the party's nomination process as "not transparent and unfair."
Wu finished third in the by-election, well behind the KMT's Hsieh Shen-shan (
According to Council for Hakka Affairs Chairwoman Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭), who has also visited Wu several times since last September, Wu's 93-year-old mother was encouraging her son to support Chen in the presidential election.
The first meeting between Chen and Wu was in December at Wu's residence, and the president even sang a traditional Hakka song for Wu's mother, Yeh said. Wu subsequently turned down the KMT-People First Party's (PFP) offer to head the alliance's presidential campaign headquarters in Hualien County.
Political analysts say young voters, especially the 1.6 million who will have the right to vote for the first time, as well as Hakka people are the key to the final phase of the presidential campaign.
"Hakka voters, who were pro-pan-blue camp during past elections, are now moving to the DPP, while the young voters, who usually support the DPP, seem to be attracted by Lien Chan's (
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
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