Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential hopeful Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) unveiled her first campaign ad yesterday in an effort to increase her profile before the party’s presidential primaries next month.
The TV ad, titled “Reason … Giving Democracy More Power,” makes no mention of her opponents, but depicts her leadership of the DPP in the past three years, highlighting the message “winning back the people’s confidence.”
“True reflection is bravely facing up to the people. One step at a time, we have rediscovered Taiwan’s most basic values,” Tsai says in the one minute spot, making reference to the DPP’s resurgence since its poor showing in the legislative and presidential elections in 2008.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
“A strong Taiwan will be able to stand on stable roots and welcome the world. Taiwan’s future deserves a better hope,” she says before a voiceover describes her as “reasonable” and “tough.”
The first TV ad to be released for the presidential campaign, the spot shows that Tsai’s campaign is already in full swing as she prepares for a potential showdown with former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).
Hsu Chia-chin (徐佳青), a spokesman for Tsai, refused to disclose the cost of the advertisement, which ran across cable news channels yesterday, but said more TV spots would likely follow until the a presidential nominee is chosen by the DPP.
Underscoring one of Tsai’s key messages as part of her campaign — “generational change” — Hsu said Tsai’s campaign was preparing for at least a dozen university students to join the Tsai, who temporarily stepped down as party chairperson to focus on her campaign, as she officially registers for the primaries tomorrow.
Lee Hou-ching (李厚慶), a spokesperson for Su, said that while his campaign did not have a timetable for the release of TV ads, it would likely be “soon,” as the former premier also aims to give himself a leg-up when the telephone primary polls are held.
Su is also expected to officially register and pay the NT$5 million (US$169,000) registration fee tomorrow at 10am, an hour before Tsai is expected to do so. Another spokesperson, Andrew Wang (王閔生), picked up the registration forms yesterday morning.
The former premier is expected to make a formal announcement this evening at Taipei City’s Civil Service Development Institute.
The two candidates and former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), the other presidential hopeful, have been canvassing the country during the past month as the DPP moves to use telephone polls to decide on its nomination next month.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
RSS