Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) is trying to make a comeback on the political stage by running for the legislature. But he's fighting for his legislative seat in the toughest constituency in Taipei City.
Hsu registered in the southern district of the city and will compete with 29 other candidates for only eight available legislative seats. Two seats are promised to female candidates.
Political heavyweights such as the DPP's Duan Yi-kang (段宜康), Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)'s Apollo Chen (陳學聖), Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), the People First Party's (PFP) Diane Lee (李慶安) and independent candidate Li Ao (李敖) are all campaigning in the same constituency.
In his campaign, Hsu is proposing a "new one China policy" for future Taiwan-China diplomatic relations, which he said should be modeled on a European Union (EU)-style partnership.
Under Hsu's proposed "new one China policy," the status quo should be maintained with the institutional structures of the "Republic of China" intact. The policy calls for the establishment of a common cross-strait marketplace to facilitate the opening of air travel, financial markets and tourism between China and Taiwan. An administrative mechanism would be established above the existing institutional structures on either side of the Strait to jointly regulate the cross-strait economic marketplace. Finally, an advisory body called the "Chinese Parliament," without legislative authority, would be established to put Taiwan and China on an equal footing for negotiations.
"An EU-style mechanism for cross-strait relations meets the country's need for security and dignity and would let Taiwan take the initiative in shaping the future on its own terms," Hsu said.
Hsu, a Taoyuan County native who was born on May 27, 1941, started his political career in 1973 when he was elected as a Taiwan Provincial Assemblyman. But he became a heavyweight for what was then the opposition after becoming Taoyuan County commissioner in 1977.
With a master's degree in political science from National Chengchi University, Hsu is also one of the founders of the DPP and served as the party's chairman from 1991 to 1993 and from 1996 to 1998.
Along with Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), Hsu was also one of the political victims of the infamous Kaohsiung Incident (美麗島事件).
The incident started as a democracy rally on Dec. 10, 1979, involving primarily members and supporters of the outlawed tangwai movement. The government arrested many protesters on charges of treason and imprisoned them on Green Island for various lengths of time.
The gap between Hsu and the DPP grew wider, until he eventually quit the party and became an independent political figure on May 8, 1999. He made the final break so he could run for the presidency, since the DPP did not nominate him as a candidate. In addition, when his cross-strait policy gradually became more and more China-friendly, some old supporters and comrades became his political enemies.
In 2000, Hsu campaigned for the presidency with his partner, former New Party legislator Josephine Chu (朱惠良), but the pair lost miserably. Since then, Hsu has faded from the political scene -- but he's never quit politics.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS