Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Lo Chih-ming (
Both the Kaohsiung and Taipei mayoral elections have attracted a flood of candidates, since serving in one of the two positions is seen as a pre-condition for a presidential nomination in both the pan-blue and pan-green camps.
Lo, who also serves as TSU secretary-general, announced his candidacy at a news conference in Kaohsiung City yesterday. Lo's election bid was endorsed by TSU Chairman Shu Chin-chiang (
"Although Kaohsiung City has changed a lot under the DPP's governance, it has also suffered through the city council speakership bribery scandal and the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) scandal, and has had three different mayors over the past four years. Kaohsiung citizens need a new leader to usher in a new era for them," Lo said yesterday.
Lo claimed that although a dozen people have already voiced their aspirations for the position of Kaohsiung mayor, some of them had done so to serve their own interests, and not those of Kaohsiung's citizens.
"I'm a legislator elected by Kaohsiung citizens and I know what local people's real needs are," Lo said.
Former Cabinet spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) took over as acting Kaohsiung mayor after former Kaohsiung mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) stepped down to serve as premier. However, Chen tendered his resignation as a result of the KRTC scandal, in which his father, Chen Che-nan (陳哲男), former deputy secretary-general of the Presidential Office, was allegedly involved. Former adviser to the president Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) currently serves as acting Kaohsiung mayor.
Since former chairwoman of the Council of Labor Affairs Chen Chu (
Lo said that he hoped the TSU and the DPP could cooperate with each other in Kaohsiung as they are for next month's Chiayi City legislative by-election.
"I will accept whoever is chosen as the pan-green camp's candidate in the primary polls," Lo said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
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