Ellen Huang (黃越綏), a former presidential candidate hopeful advocating Taiwanese independence, held a press conference yesterday to explain her reasons for dropping out of the race the day before.
Huang said she was unlikely to collect 260,000 signatures, the threshold mandated by the Central Election Commission to register as a presidential candidate. She had collected 101,931 signatures in 105 days of campaigning, Huang said.
The 64-year-old said she would support Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) presidential campaign if Tsai extends an invitation, because she would like to see a female president in Taiwan.
Funding was also a problem for Huang, who is known for her dedication to children’s welfare.
A deposit of NT$1 million (US$34,000) is required for an applicant recommended by way of joint signatures and another NT$15 million is required to register as a presidential candidate, according to the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法).
“I might as well buy 20,000 lunchboxes for underprivileged children with the NT$1 million,” she said.
Huang said she “fought alone” during the campaign, accompanied by senior independence advocates Peng Ming-min (彭明敏) and Su Beng (史明), as well as DPP officials Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) and Kao Chien-chih (高建智).
Huang said she was disappointed she was attacked during her campaign, being described by some as taking bribes from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) or being a sidekick of former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS