Lawmakers’ establishment of service centers outside their own constituencies shows that they are already preparing for the seven-in-one elections to be held at the end of next year, political analysts are saying.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Chi Kuo-tung (紀國棟) and Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) have been the first to open up the service centers.
Tsai’s opened up an office in the eastern district of Greater Taichung yesterday with a launch that was attended by Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國), Taichung Council Deputy Speaker Chang hung-nein (張宏年) and singer Tsai Yi-te (蔡義德).
In a speech at the opening ceremony, Wang said that Tsai Chin-lung — a three-term legislator who also doubled as secretary-general of the DPP legislative caucus — had shown great ability when he worked for the central government.
His establishment of a service office at the eastern district shows that he aspires to higher goals, Wang said, adding that Tsai should plan his moves carefully.
Asked if he would support Tsai Chin-lung as a candidate for Greater Taichung mayor, Wang did not answer, instead saying that the local DPP headquarters would step in to mediate if there were more than one candidate for the race.
If necessary, the decision could be made by consulting polls, Wang said, adding that he would back whoever the DPP nominated.
Tsai plans to open a total of eight service offices in Greater Taichung this week.
RISK FACTORS: ‘We hope people can cooperate and endure it ... it is possibly the very important last mile,’ Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung said Taiwan’s COVID-19 restrictions and mask regulations are to remain the same next month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The center reported 42,112 new local COVID-19 cases and 85 deaths, saying that the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has dropped to a new low this month. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said that the center is keeping COVID-19 restrictions and mask regulations the same due to the local virus situation, and an increase in the number of imported cases of the new Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 of SARS-CoV-2, among other risk factors. Easing
TRAVEL CONFERENCE: Representatives from the two countries exchanged views on how to increase tourist numbers, with one identifying individual travel as a trend Taiwan and South Korea aim to increase the number of tourists traveling between the two countries to 3 million, government and tourism industry representatives said at a conference in Hsinchu City yesterday. The annual event was attended by Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Yen-po (陳彥伯); Tourism Bureau Director-General Chang Shi-chung (張錫聰); Taiwan Visitors Association chairwoman Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭); South Korean Representative to Taiwan Chung Byung-won; Yoon Ji-sook, an official at the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; and Korea Association of Travel Agents chairman Oh Chang-hee. Global tourism is expected to soon rebound to between 55 and
DAMAGE CONTROL: The KMT in a statement called the Taiwan Strait ‘international waters,’ after Alexander Huang said China had the right to claim it as internal waters Lawmakers and experts yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) envoy to the US Alexander Huang (黃介正) of acting as China’s stooge, after he said that Beijing has the right to claim waters beyond its maritime territory as its exclusive economic zone and that the US has no legal basis to assert that the Taiwan Strait is an “international waterway.” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said in an online post that most of the world considers the Strait an international waterway, adding that this is important for safeguarding Taiwan. “We have seen US warships transiting through the Taiwan Strait.
The Taichung District Court yesterday sentenced to nine years in prison an unlicensed judo coach who caused the death of a seven-year-old student after slamming him onto the ground more than a dozen times. In its decision against the coach, a man surnamed Ho (何), the court cited his lack of remorse for using excessive force against an inadequately trained child and his failure to reconcile with the parents for his role in their son’s death. Speaking on behalf of the boy’s mother, Taichung City Councilor Jacky Chen (陳清龍) said the family would appeal to a higher court. Prosecutors said that Ho on