Former vice premier Yeh Chu-lan (
Vice President Annette Lu (
Former Presidential Office secretary-general Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), for example, is the party's candidate for vice president, Lu said, and she wished Yeh good luck.
Yeh accepted the job after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
Lu said that she has always admired Yeh's intelligence and courage both as a woman and as a politician.
Yeh is best known for her role in uncovering a construction scandal involving a segment of the Sun Yat-sen Freeway connecting Taipei County's Sijhih (
The scandal, better known as the "No. 18 bid" case, cost then minister of transportation and communications Eugene Chien (
Yeh, who entered politics after the sudden death of her husband Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕), has served as chairwoman of the Council for Hakka Affairs, minister of transportation and communications, vice premier and acting Kaohsiung mayor.
Deng set himself alight on April 7, 1989 as armed police attempted to break into his office following 71 days of self-imposed isolation. Deng had been charged with sedition for the anti-government stance of his magazine after it published a draft "Taiwan Republic Constitution" in 1988.
Commenting on the Hsieh-Su ticket, Lu said that Deputy Presidential Office Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) did a fine job in successfully persuading Su to pair up with Hsieh when Cho was doubling up as the secretary-general.
"The president might have pushed the Hsieh-Su ticket a little bit too hard, so Su was under a lot of pressure and ran away from the wedding," he said.
Although Chen had failed to "force Su into marriage," Lu said that Cho deserved credit for bringing up the proposal with Su and accomplishing the difficult task.
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
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious