Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (
Chen said she was looking forward to the final verdict of the lawsuit because the uncertainty surrounding the case had hurt Kaohsiung's municipal construction projects and the rights of the city's residents.
"The lives of residents will not return to normal until the final verdict of the lawsuit is pronounced," she said during a question-and-answer session in Kaohsiung City Council yesterday morning.
Chen was fielding questions from People First Party City Councilor Yang Se-yu (楊色玉) about the city government's plan to maintain order in response to the Taiwan High Court's announcement of the final decision tomorrow regarding her appeal against a ruling to annul last December's result.
Chen yesterday urged people who support or oppose her to stay calm about the verdict and not to gather together around the court to protest.
Chen guaranteed that she would fulfill her promises to Kaohsiung residents if she wins the lawsuit and that she would accept defeat if she loses.
The Kaohsiung District Court on June 15 ruled in favor of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) mayoral candidate Huang Chun-ying (黃俊英), who had accused Chen of violating campaign regulations and asked that her victory be annulled.
The district court annulled the result of the December election, requiring that another election be held.
Chen then filed an appeal with Taiwan High Court's Kaohsiung branch. The high court is scheduled to hand down the final verdict at 4pm tomorrow.
The verdict in the second trial is not subject to appeal, and Chen cannot join any by-election if she loses.
Meanwhile, Kaohsiung City Police Bureau will control traffic around the high court.
The police bureau started to lay barricades around the court yesterday to protect it for possible riots as a result of the verdict tomorrow.
"We will deploy about 800 police officers to maintain public security tomorrow," said Hsu Tung-li (許董利), a captain of Kaohsiung's Kushan (鼓山) patrol team, adding that the police bureau will have about 480 other officers as reinforcement.
Meanwhile, the KMT said yesterday it would renominate Huang as its candidate if the court annuls Chen's victory.
The Taiwan High Court's Kaohsiung branch is expected to announce its verdict around 4pm tomorrow.
KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yi (
"Huang should've won the election if it wasn't for the DPP's illegitimate tactics. We believe that what should belong to Huang would be returned to him in the end," Wu said yesterday at the KMT headquarters.
Wu said the party will respect the Central Election Committee's decision on the date of the by-election if the verdict was in favor of Huang again.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS