Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Twu Shiing-
jer (涂醒哲) has won the party’s primary for Chiayi mayor, DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) announced yesterday in Chiayi City.
Twu finished with the best result in a simulated poll, beating Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Chen Yi-chen (陳以真) 39.8 percent to 29.7 percent. He is to be officially named the DPP candidate after approval by the party’s Central Executive Committee.
Photo: Ting Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
Huang Lu-hui (黃露慧), director of the DPP’s Chiayi City Chapter, finished second with a slight margin over Chen at 32.6 percent to 31.9 percent, while Tseng Chin-yuan (曾錦源) lagged behind the KMT candidate by 25 percentage points.
Twu said he was happy with the victory and hoped that he would not let his supporters down in the November election.
With Huang and Tseng pledging to fully support Twu’s campaign, Su said Chiayi City, a stronghold of democracy, would be a must-win constituency in the seven-in-one elections.
A former health minister under the DPP administration, Twu ran in Chiayi mayoral election in 2009 but lost to incumbent Mayor Huang Min-hui (黃敏惠).
Twu could have a slight advantage in the three-way election because of a potential split in the KMT. Hsiao Shu-li (蕭淑麗), the director-general of the Farmers’ Association of Chiayi City, withdrew from the KMT after failing to win the party’s nomination.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by