Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said he may meet with National Taiwan University physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) as early as next week to discuss Ko’s strained relationship with the party.
Ko, an independent who has been leading all pan-green camp aspirants in the DPP primary for Taipei mayor in public approval ratings, has been mulling whether to join the party.
Several DPP aspirants, in particular former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), have vehemently opposed Ko’s inclusion in the party primary as a non-DPP member, saying that the move would counter party consolidation.
Although Ko’s supporters say that he can run as an independent if the party does not nominate a candidate for the Taipei race, slated to be held on Dec. 6 next year, Su appeared to have eliminated that scenario yesterday.
“The DPP has fielded a candidate in every Taipei mayoral election, as every political party should do,” he said.
The chairman’s comment implied that the DPP would definitely nominate a candidate for the mayoral contest, so if Ko does not join the party, there will be two pan-green camp candidates in the race.
On Monday, lawyer Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who is trying to win the four-way race to secure the party’s nod, unveiled his campaign theme: “Good Taipei+,” at a press conference attended by eight of the DPP’s 22 Taipei City councilors to show their support.
A DECADE’S WORK: The two-volume, 1,400-page lexicon has collected more than 20,000 words and phrases, and is expected to help people learning the Liu Dui dialect The Liu Dui Culture Research Association on Saturday unveiled the nation’s first domestically compiled lexicon of Hakka-language words in the Liu Dui dialect, an effort that took a decade of work and cost about NT$7 million (US$233,085 at the current exchange rate). The two-volume, 1,400-page lexicon collected more than 20,000 phrases and words, and is estimated to be of great value in helping people learn the Liu Dui dialect and culture, the association said. It could also become a reference book for teachers, the association added. The lexicon collected phrases and common words used in daily speech, as well as local sayings, phrases
EXPANSION: The transportation ministry is to subsidize Taipei and Kaohsiung’s purchase of 63 multipurpose taxis, as well as the payment of incentives for drivers The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is appropriating nearly NT$60 million (US$2 million) to subsidize plans by the Taipei City Government and the Kaohsiung City Government to expand their multipurpose taxi fleets, it said over the weekend. The ministry said that it has since 2013 subsidized the multipurpose taxi service nationwide, as it has become a way for disabled people to travel. The nation has 980 multipurpose taxis, including 301 in Taipei and 272 in Kaohsiung, ministry statistics showed. Last year, the service was accessed more than 200,000 times in Taipei and 460,000 times in Kaohsiung, which the ministry said shows
The One Bear Museum in Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), a teddy bear museum once touted by the county government as a “luminous pearl” along Provincial Highway No. 13, is facing possible closure. The museum’s building, which was provided by the county government, has a serious water leakage problem and lacks a parking lot for buses to bring in tour groups, Hsinchu County Councilor Lo Shih-shi (羅仕琦) said on Saturday. The county government should step in to rescue the museum, or the negative reviews about the museum on the Internet might affect visitors’ impression of the township and the county, he said. The
‘NATIONAL SECURITY PROBLEM’: Two DPP legislators said the government needs to help public agencies replace Chinese equipment and pass legislation banning their use More than 200 government entities are together using 1,108 telecommunications devices from Chinese brands, posing a cybersecurity risk, a government report showed. At the suggestion of the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee last year, the Executive Yuan investigated 7,704 public institutions to see whether they were using or had procured telecoms equipment manufactured by Chinese companies. They found that as of April 13, of the 3,837 public institutions that responded to their requests, 228 said they had been using equipment made by Chinese brands, including mobile phones, video cameras, drones and other Internet-related devices. The report highlighted products from seven brands considered to
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