The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) finalized its nominations for legislators in the northern Taipei constituency with the conclusion of a public opinion poll yesterday.
The competitive area saw nine contestants battle for five nomination slots. The nominations were decided with party member votes counting for 30 percentof the decision and public opinion polls counting for 70 percent.
The five candidates who will be nominated are Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), Lin Chung-mo (林重謨), Taipei City Councilor Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇), former Taipei City Councilor Kao Chien-chih (高建智) and former director of the DPP communications department, Phoenix Cheng (鄭運鵬).
The northern Taipei constituency consists of six districts -- Shihlin, Peitou, Sungshan, Hsinyi, Neihu and Nankang.
Among the five, Hsiao received the highest score in the opinion poll, with a support rate of 30.27 percent, followed by Cheng with 14.79 percent, Lin 14.11 percent, Hsu 11.14 percent and Kao 9.81 percent.
The competition for the nominations was intense, and was marked by fighting over factional endoresments
Cheng, who used to be a protege of Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) -- the leader of the Welfare State Alliance (福利國系) -- failed to win Hsieh's support in the primary. Hsieh chose to support the other two members of the faction: Hsu and Kao.
Without the backing of the faction, Cheng scored poorly in the party member vote.
But he did well in the public opinion poll and this secured his nomination.
He also won support from Justice Alliance Legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (
The New Tide Faction also suffered a setback in the northern Taipei constituency as Taipei City Legislator Lee Chien-chang (李建昌) was crowded out from the five safest nomination slots, finishing at No. 6.
The northern Taipei constituency will elect 10 legislators, and pan-blue competition is fierce, as many candidates in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party have signed up for their parties' primaries as well.
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
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
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
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS