In the first of many anticipated power struggles over party nominations for the year-end county commissioner elections, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) at large Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) yesterday announced his intention to enter the race for Nantou County Commissioner, despite the fact that DPP-affiliated incumbent commissioner Lin Tseng-nan (林宗男) has previously said he will run for re-election in that county this year.
"Why is it that Nantou County is always the last in all polls? We need to ask all of the residents of Nantou County whether or not there is something wrong with our government," said Tsai yesterday, criticizing Lin's leadership in Nantou County.
PHOTO: LIN MING-HONG, TAIPEI TIMES
"Does the DPP have no ability left? Too many people have told me that they are disillusioned with the DPP administration," he added.
Tsai, whose former constituency was Nantou County, made the remarks at a press conference yesterday while announcing his intention to run for the county's commissioner post.
At the press conference, Tsai signed a statement promising not to abuse any person's character, smear anyone's reputation or engage in personal attacks. In the statement, Tsai also promised that he would not grumble he should lose his party's backing for the commissioner post. If he went back on any of his promises, Tsai said, he would drop out of politics and accept any punishment from his party no matter how severe, even if that included being expelled from the party.
Tsai's rival, Lin, was less than impressed with the former legislative caucus whip's words yesterday.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
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COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai