Former Green Party Taiwan (GPT) secretary-general Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) and his brother Pan Han-chiang (潘翰疆) founded the Tree Party (樹黨) last month, and nominated 21 candidates for the Nov. 29 nine-in-one elections, saying that the party would represent the interests of trees and wildlife that do not have the ability or right to vote.
The Pan brothers are familiar faces in Taiwan’s environmental movement, while Pan Han-shen has also run in Taipei city councilor and legislative elections representing the GPT.
However, this time around they founded their own party on Aug. 26, with the objectives to run in the upcoming elections and represent the interests of trees, wildlife and the nation’s youth.
“In recent years, global climate change and the heat-island effect have caused temperature increases that destroy quality of life in the city,” Pan Han-shen said while explaining the idea behind the party.
“For instance, nighttime temperatures in Taipei have gone up by three degrees in the past three decades, which is four times higher than the global average. In addition, fast development have left residents of Taipei with only 6m2 of green land per person, which is much lower than all major Asian cities besides Hong Kong,” Pan Han-shen added.
“Therefore, our goal is not only to break the blue-green political deadlock, but to also break the destruction of trees and wildlife,” he said.
The party has nominated 21 candidates to run for borough warden, village warden, township mayor and city councilor positions in Taipei, New Taipei City, Yilan, Hsinchu, Miaoli and Nantou counties, as well as in Greater Taichung, Chiayi and Greater Tainan.
However, the party’s Taipei City councilor nominee, Kao Yi-hsin (高毅心), 23, was ineligible to be registered as a candidate, since the minimum age threshold for the position is 26.
Pan Ching-chu (潘靜竹), the party’s Greater Tainan city councilor candidate, admitted that it is a big challenge for her to fight for election, given the political environment.
“However, through running in the election I would also advertise my ideas for more transparency in politics and break the polarized blue-green politics in the nation,” she said.
Reacting to the founding of the Tree Party and its nomination of candidates, the GPT said in a statement issued yesterday that it has asked Pan Han-shen and Pan Han-chiang to withdraw from the party.
However, it added that it highly supports the Tree Party’s ideas and would not rule out the possibility of the two parties collaborating in future.
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
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
The age requirement for commercial pilots and airline transport pilots is to be lowered by two years, to 18 and 21 years respectively, to expand the pool of pilots in accordance with international standards, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced today. The changes are part of amendments to articles 93, 119 and 121 of the Regulations Governing Licenses and Ratings for Airmen (航空人員檢定給證管理規則). The amendments take into account age requirements for aviation personnel certification in the Convention on International Civil Aviation and EU’s aviation safety regulations, as well as the practical needs of managing aviation personnel licensing, the ministry said. The ministry
RSS