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.
OVERHAUL NEEDED: The government should improve its agricultural processing capabilities and expand to new markets to limit its reliance on China, an expert said China’s ban on Taiwanese pineapples was “unsurprising,” and Taiwan should have years ago altered its produce export strategies and target customers, experts said. China on Friday abruptly suspended imports of pineapples from Taiwan, saying that it had on multiple occasions discovered “harmful biological entities” on the fruit. Calling it an “unfriendly” move, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said that 99.79 percent of the pineapples sent to China since last year have met China’s import standards. Chiao Chun (焦鈞), the author of Fruits and Politics — A Recollection of Cross-strait Agricultural Interaction Over the Past Decade (水果政治學:兩岸農業交流十年回顧與展望), said that China’s announcement is clearly targeting
The Council of Agriculture yesterday signed a Taiwan-Australia Agricultural Cooperation Implementation clause to open a new export market for the nation’s pineapple crop. The clause is an addition to existing cooperation measures, it said. China on Friday last week abruptly announced that it would suspend pineapple imports from Taiwan starting on Monday, on grounds that it had on multiple occasions discovered “harmful organisms” in shipments of the fruit. The public and private sectors have since joined hands to purchase the local fruit to help the nation’s pineapple farmers. Canberra has requested that all pineapples for export to Australia have their crown buds removed,
DECADES OF INFLUENCE: Over the past 20 years, China has made inroads with Aborigines, funding political campaigns and trips, a legislator said Lawmakers have called on the National Security Bureau to investigate claims of pervasive Chinese influence among Aboriginal communities. Legislators pointed to a surge in communist propaganda and Chinese-funded projects over the past few years, which they say are aimed at infiltrating and buying political influence among Aboriginal communities. “China has for decades carried out wide-ranging ‘united front’ tactics and propaganda campaigns targeting Aborigines,” said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩), a member of the Puyuma community in Taitung County. “Now, they are influencing elections for local councilors and village chiefs, offering money for candidates to mount their campaigns, and to
Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group might have lost its right to distribute the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19 and the ability to fulfill a contract in Taiwan, civic groups Taiwan Citizen Front and the Economic Democracy Union said yesterday. In a radio interview on Feb. 17, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), head of the Central Epidemic Command Center, said that last year, Taiwan was close to signing a contract to buy doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, but that the deal was halted at the last moment, with some speculating that Chinese interference was to blame. On Monday last week, the center