Hualien independent legislative by-election candidate Shih Sheng-lang (施勝郎) yesterday filed a slander suit against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) over the latter’s remarks that he was a “hooligan.”
Accompanied by a horde of supporters at the Hualien District Court, Shih also accused King of obstructing the by-election.
On Tuesday when campaigning for KMT nominee Wang Ting-sheng (王廷升), King, aside from criticizing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Hualien legislative by-election candidate Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), also attacked Shih, saying that the candidate supported by independent Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) “was a hooligan who did time on Green Island (綠島) for four years.”
“When something has to do with himself, King said ‘who doesn’t have past?’ But when it comes to something to do with others, he keeps on digging into past sore points,” Shih said. “So, tell me, who’s more of a hooligan?”
At a separate setting yesterday when asked for a response, King declined to comment, saying that the matter was now being handled by judiciary.
Meanwhile, the KMT yesterday continued its attack on Hsiao, accusing her of being a “tourist” to Hualien.
KMT spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) yesterday visited Taoyuan County to campaign for KMT candidate Apollo Chen (陳學聖), and condemned the DPP for “wrongly accusing Chen of being a ‘parachute’ candidate” in Taoyuan and having few connections in the county.
“Chen is a native Taoyuan citizen. The beautiful tourist [Hsiao], on the other hand, was portrayed as a native from Hualien County,” he said.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) last night canvassed the streets in Chaiyi County with KMT candidate Lin De-rui (林德瑞). He is expected to spend much of today — the eve of the by-election — in Taoyuan County. He is also to visit Hsinchu County today to campaign for KMT candidate Cheng Yung-tang (鄭永堂).
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
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