The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Taipei and Sinbei mayoral candidates — Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and former vice premier Eric Chu (朱立倫) — yesterday linked their election campaigns, pledging to facilitate transportation construction and develop technology industries through cooperation.
Amid the cheers of dozens of party stalwarts, as well as city and county councilors, Hau and Chu said in a joint press conference that the two cities shared the goal of pushing for 10 MRT line projects in the greater Taipei area to be completed by 2015, including the Xinzhuang Line and the line to Taipei Taoyuan International Airport.
“The MRT has changed the lives of both Taipei and Sinbei residents and has connected the two cities. The launch of more MRT lines will further build the two cities into a greater area, and Mr Hau and I will work together to serve the 6.5 million residents of the two cities,” Chu said at the Mayor’s Residence Arts Salon in Taipei.
With the completion of the Xinzhuang Line in 2012 and other MRT lines, the MRT network will expand by 30km in Taipei City and 57km in Taipei County, which will be upgraded in December and renamed Sinbei City.
Describing Chu as an old friend and colleague at National Taiwan University and a fellow legislator, Hau echoed Chu’s pledge to seek closer cooperation between Taipei and Sinbei cities, vowing to turn the area into an Asian economic and trade hub and attract Taiwanese companies in China to set up their headquarters in Taiwan.
“We will create a win-win situation via cooperation between the two cities. The cooperation between Mr Chu and I has been smooth, and we will continue our cooperation to push for the prosperity of the two cities,” Hau said.
Yesterday’s joint press conference marked the first of a series of joint election events the Hau and Chu camps plan to hold. The KMT sought to appeal to voters by highlighting close cooperation between Hau and Chu in continuing municipal construction as they seek to be elected over the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate, former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), and the DPP’s Sinbei mayoral candidate, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) .
Hau’s camp said that Hau and Chu would jointly present more policies to stress cooperation.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man