Six pairs of presidential election candidates fielded by independents and small political parties completed their registration with the Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday, the last day for presidential candidacy registration.
They are independent Lee -Hsing-chang (李幸長) and his running mate Wu Wu-ming (吳武明), People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) and his running mate, Lin Ruey-shiung (林瑞雄), the Taiwanese National Party’s Chuang Mung-hsieh (莊孟學) and his running mate, Huang Guohua (黃國華), People United Party Chairperson Hsu Jung-shu (許榮淑) and her running mate, Wu Chia-li (吳嘉琍), independent Kao Kuo-ching (高國慶) and his running mate, Teng Hsiu-pao (鄧秀寶), and independent Lin Ching-ying (林金瑛) and running mate Shih Hsiang-ching (石翊靖). According to CEC regulations, an endorsement process is required for presidential aspirants unless they represent a political party that won at least 5 percent of the vote in the last presidential or legislative election.
Independents must collect signatures from at least 1.5 percent of eligible voters, or 257,695 signatures, within 45 days after the launch of the public endorsement period on Sept. 22.
As of now, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is seeking re-election as member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and Democratic Progressive Party Chairwoman (DPP) Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) are the only full-fledged candidates.
On Sept. 13, independent presidential aspirant Ellen Huang (黃越綏) announced her decision to drop out of January’s presidential election.
Saying that she would have to pay a NT$1 million (US$33,900) registration fee to the CEC to become a presidential candidate through signature collection and a subsequent fee of NT$15 million to formally register, the 64-year-old social activist said: “It is more significant to buy 20,000 lunch boxes for the underprivileged than to hand NT$1 million to the CEC.”
She also said that she would never have been able to obtain the signatures needed to enter as an independent presidential candidate.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
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