Calling himself an "engineer of Taiwan's new constitution" in his legislative campaign ads, David Huang (黃適卓) said that he was led into politics by both his father, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Huang Chu-wen (黃主文) and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
The elder Huang is a political veteran who has served as minister of interior during Lee's presidency. Despite this background, David Huang says it never previously occurred to him to go into politics and that he expected to remain an academic for the rest of his life.
After having obtaining his doctoral degree in public administration at the University of Southern California in 2001, Huang became an assistant professor at Tamkang University. He also served as a committee member in the Examination Yuan until he decided to run for a legislator's seat.
Former TSU deputy secretary-general Chen Hong-chi (陳鴻基), who failed to win a legislative seat in the southern constituency of Taipei City, where Huang is now campaigning, said the party needed new blood and withdrew his candidacy for this year's elections in Huang's favor, with the approval of Lee.
Although Lee supported Huang's nomination, however, his mother Huang Shu-ying (黃淑英) was opposed him following his father's footsteps at first because she thought life as a lawmaker was too demanding. Eventually Lee persuaded her to change her mind and support her son's campaign.
Changing his career in midstream from academia to politics, Huang admitted that he took some time to learn campaigning techniques, such as how to get along with voters and how to promote himself with campaign rhetoric. He now thinks he has a good grasp of the essentials.
Using "the legacy of responsible democracy" as one of his campaign slogans, Huang's campaign ads feature both Lee and his father and portray Huang as someone ready to pick up the torch for promoting Taiwan-centered national identification to the younger generation. Huang has said he will devote himself to rectifying the country's name and creating a new constitution for Taiwan.
Highlighting his image as a pro-independence advocate, Huang aims to grab a legislative seat in Taipei City's southern constituency, which is one of the most keenly fought over with more than 30 candidates contending for 10 seats.
But he stressed that he cannot ride to an election victory in the coattails of his father or Lee but will have to build his own individual support from the ground up. His platform, he says, will eventually become the mainstream political position in Taiwan.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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