Chen Luan-ying (陳鑾英), the wife of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Lee E-tin (李乙廷), yesterday narrowly lost to independent candidate Kang Shih-ju (康世儒) in a Miaoli by-election for Lee’s seat.
Kang, chief of Zhunan Township (竹南), gave up his KMT membership to run in the by-election. He declared victory yesterday after winning 41,688 votes to Chen’s 40,099 votes.
Lee’s election to the legislature was annulled in December after he was found guilty of vote-buying.
PHOTO: PENG CHIEN-LI, TAIPEI TIMES
After yesterday’s results were in, Kang said at his campaign headquarters that the public had voted for an end to corruption. He vowed to combat corruption and work for the interests of Miaoli residents.
“The result of the by-election show that voters in Miaoli County renounce corruption and support me for my integrity and long-term efforts to develop Miaoli County,” Kang said.
Chen, accompanied by Lee, conceded defeat shortly afterward at her campaign headquarters. Chen and Lee blamed her defeat on the low turnout rate. They said they would not seek a recount.
Kang failed to win the KMT’s nomination for the legislative election last year and left the party after it again passed him over for the by-election, choosing Chen instead.
The KMT later formally revoked Kang’s membership after he said he would run in the by-election as an independent candidate.
Chen was leading yesterday before votes in Zhunan Township were counted.
Kang won 19,000 votes to Chen’s 6,200 votes in the township, securing the victory.
Cold weather yesterday resulted in a lower voter turnout than expected. Voter turnout was about 40 percent, the Miaoli County Election Commission said.
Miaoli is viewed as a pan-blue stronghold and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) did not have a candidate in the by-election.
Lee, who was elected as a first-term lawmaker in January last year, lost his seat on Dec. 10 after the Taichung branch of the High Court rejected his appeal of a Miaoli District Court ruling that convicted him of buying votes and annulled his election victory.
Meanwhile, a separate legislative by-election will be held on March 28 in Taipei City’s Da-an District (大安) to fill the vacancy left by former KMT legislator Diane Lee (李慶安) following her resignation in January over a dual-citizenship controversy.
Six candidates have registered: Chiang Nai-shin (蔣乃辛) of the KMT, Chou Po-ya (周柏雅) of the DPP, Calvin Wen (溫炳原) of the Green Party Taiwan, and independent candidates Yao Li-ming (姚立明), Liu Yi-chun (劉義鈞) and Cheng Yuan-chi (陳源奇) will compete for the seat.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS