The only difference between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and independent Taipei mayoral candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) is that Ko has not joined the party, Ko’s Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) rival, Sean Lien (連勝文), said yesterday, adding that Ko and the DPP had made a secret deal.
Lien’s comments came in response to a DPP complaint that the Chinese-language United Daily News ran misleading reports on Ko and DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Wednesday.
According to the newspaper, Tsai said during a televised interview on SET-TV on Tuesday night that while the DPP had agreed to help Ko in his mayoral bid by not nominating its own candidate, Ko would have to join the DPP “mayors’ club” if he won and could not make any policy decision without its consent.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Lien said Ko was in agreement with the DPP in almost every aspect, and that even after their secret deal had been revealed, neither side was willing to clarify the details of the pact.
This is an excellent chance for voters to see if Ko’s actions match his words, Lien said as he canvassed for votes in Xinyi District’s (信義) traditional market.
A support group for Lien has allegedly distributed campaign literature stating that certain politicians are pretending to be independent while they are actually sympathetic to pro-Taiwanese independence and pan-green ideals and were wasting political resources by trying to smear their rivals.
However, Lien came in for some criticism himself he campaigned at the market. An elderly woman who said she was a long-time KMT supporter followed Lien’s entourage, asking how the Lien family had been able to amass its wealth while working as civil servants.
The woman told KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) that although she voted for Fai in 2012 and would have gladly voted for KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) — who had sought the KMT nomination for Taipei — she would not vote for Lien.
Two members of the Losheng Alliance stopped Lien when he toured the Zhonglun Market in Songshan District (松山) and asked Lien to keep his promises and sign a petition to stop construction of a Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) maintenance depot for the Luzhou-Sinjhuang MRT line being built near Losheng (Happy Life) Sanatorium.
Lien said the alliance had the same petition when he ran for the party’s Central Standing Committee p in 2006, and that he was all for the protection of the disadvantaged.
Lien promised that if elected, he would ask the TRTC to step up negotiations with the sanatorium, adding that he believed there must be a method that would protect disadvantaged groups while promoting development.
Additional reporting by Chen Yen-ting
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
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