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.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
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STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group