The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is scheduled to finalize the nomination of its legislative candidates tomorrow as the registration process is set to begin on Friday, the party's Culture and Information Department Director Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓) said yesterday.
The registration for January's legislative elections opens on Friday and closes on Nov. 21.
Independence activists yesterday urged the DPP to nominate Chen Tseng-chih (
As a DPP member for 14 years, Chen said it was a pity the DPP had not nominated anyone in that district and that she would like to give the electorate another choice aside from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Lo Ming-tsai (
Chinese dissident Ruan Ming (
With the adoption of a new electoral system for the legislative poll, Ruan said that the public wanted to see new blood in the legislature.
"I call on President Chen Shui-bian (
"Taiwan needs change and Chen Tseng-chih is the power of change representing Hakka women and the media," he said.
While the DPP seeks to lure former KMT Legislator Lee Sen-zong (李顯榮) and legislators who have been expelled from the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) to join the legislative election, Ruan said he did not understand why the DPP did not recruit Chen Tseng-chih.
Lee lost the KMT nomination in Taipei County's first district to fellow legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇). Lee protested his party's failure to pursue localization and burned his party membership card to show his determination to run in the January poll.
Lee yesterday declined to confirm whether he would join the DPP and dismissed Wu's allegation that he left after losing the party's nomination and would join the DPP.
The DPP also wants to recruit TSU legislators Liao Pen-yen (廖本煙) and Huang Chung-yung (黃宗源), who were expelled for being "uncooperative" and "failing to toe the party line." The TSU has followed up by revoking the candidacies of legislators Yin Ling-ying (尹伶瑛) and David Huang (黃適卓).
Meanwhile, Yin yesterday asked her DPP rival, Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國), to let opinion polls decide who should represent the pan-green camp in next year's election.
Yin had said she would run as a DPP candidate in Yunlin County's second constituency if she won in the opinion polls.
If she lost, she said she would be glad to serve as Liu's campaign chief.
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
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,
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