With the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) candidate for the Taipei mayoral election still a mystery, one of the only DPP members to have directly expressed interest in running for the post yesterday urged former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) to make his intentions clear.
Hsieh is thought to be mulling running in the mayoral race.
Former DPP legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (
"I hope Hsieh will let everyone know whether or not he will run for the Taipei mayorship right away. He should make it clear to the DPP and stop being coy about the election," Shen said.
Wasting time
"Although this ambiguous attitude can garner him much media exposure, it does not benefit the DPP. Don't waste others' time and supporters' patience," he said.
Shen said that since he had already announced he would not join the election, he would not change his mind, even if the DPP came to its senses and attempted to enlist him when Hsieh decides to abandon the election.
"This battlefield does not belong to me any longer. It makes no sense for me to continue fighting," Shen said.
Although Shen said that he would not look at the party's conspicuous preference for Hsieh as an injustice, he relayed comments from a conversation he said he had with DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun last Tuesday.
"Yu told me that Hsieh said to him that he would give up the 2008 presidential election if he decided to run in the Taipei mayoral election," Shen said.
Shen said that as such, he believed Hsieh would not join the Taipei race as he appeared to be eyeing the presidential election.
Rejected candidate
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator You Ching (
The DPP had cited problems with his documents in blocking his application.
You submitted letters to the DPP, saying that his application documents had met the party's requirements.
You accused the party of intentionally harassing him over his participation in the primary.
DPP Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), who accepted You's documents, said that the party would submit You's complaint to the central executive committee, which would review them tomorrow.
TSU ready to campaign
In related developments, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Shu Chin-chiang (
After the news conference, Clara Chou (周玉蔻) and TSU Legislator Lo Chih-ming (羅志明), the party's candidates for the year-end Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral races, as well as 12 city councilor candidates, together visited former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) at his residence in Taoyuan.
Lee did not say anything to the media but took a group picture with the candidates at the front door of his house to show his support.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do