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.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not