Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), longtime political rivals who could meet in the party’s chairmanship election in May, yesterday exchanged verbal jabs over reports of Chinese interference in the election.
In a keynote speech to the DPP’s Central Standing Committee on Wednesday, Taiwan Thinktank councilor Tung Li-wen (董立文) said Beijing’s planned to “eliminate Su” due to the chairman’s hawkish China policy.
The remarks were made after Hsieh had left the meeting early and were criticized by several party members as a political maneuver to boost Su’s possible re-election campaign — Su has not made official announcement on a bid — and paint Hsieh as Beijing’s favored candidate in the election.
Photo: CNA
Responding to a media inquiry about the so-called “eliminate Su plan,” Hsieh said yesterday that the speech’s timing, coming after his early departure from the meeting, was “rude.”
China’s political plan could be targeted at any DPP politician, Hsieh said without elaborating.
Su said he had not read Tung’s report before the meeting, but Tung’s assessment made sense as Beijing has always tried to discredit anyone who safeguards Taiwanese identity and values.
Su denied that being Beijing’s enemy would benefit a re-election campaign, saying that he “did not care much about what favors me and what works against me.”
Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said Tung’s remarks “could have exaggerated things a little bit,” but were not groundless.
“It does not take a genius to know that Beijing would try to marginalize, discredit and attack those who are pro-Taiwan. It has been very clear — and I have said all along — that China will interfere with all elections in Taiwan, including the DPP’s chairman election,” Lu said.
Lu — one of the aspirants for the DPP’s nomination in the Taipei mayoral election — said that former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan’s (連戰) meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing shortly before the expected announcement of his son’s participation in the Taipei mayoral election was a case of Chinese interference, apparently referring to former Taipei EasyCard Co chairman Sean Lien’s (連勝文) likely campaign run for Taipei mayor.
Former chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who could also participate in the chairman election, said she had never heard of the “eliminate Su plan.”
The DPP would be well advised to find out where the report came from, she added.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS