The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wrapped up its “Super Weekend” yesterday ahead of Saturday’s nine-in-one elections with campaign motorcades and rallies that featured top party members along with its candidates.
Given that the party has set central Taiwan as the key battleground in the elections, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), former DPP chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and former DPP secretary-general Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) headed in three separate groups to canvass in Greater Taichung, Nantou County and Changhua County, before the three teams joined up in Nantou’s Caotun Township (草屯) for an afternoon rally.
Former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) also stumped on the streets of Greater Taiching alongside mayoral candidate Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍).
Photo: Wang Chun-chieh, Taipei Times
Lin I-hsiung said Saturday’s elections are not simply about local politics, but about fostering more leadership in the nation.
The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) adoption of pro-China policies in recent years has caused some entrepreneurs to back the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to make more money, but this is not beneficial to the nation’s democratic development, he said, referring to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) support for the KMT.
Lin I-hsiung called on voters to vote for DPP candidates to show their dissatisfaction with the Ma administration’s pro-China tendencies and to force change.
Tsai had an especially busy day. In addition to her trip to central Taiwan, she also visited Taoyuan County to campaign for Taoyuan mayoral candidate Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), made an appearance in Hsinchu County to campaign for independent county commissioner candidate Cheng Yung-chin (鄭永金), stumped in Miaoli County for DPP county commissioner candidate Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻) and then traveled to Hsinchu City to back DPP mayoral candidate Lin Chih-chien (林智堅).
Last night, Tsai went back to Taoyuan, where she shared a stage with former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former vice premier Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) and attorney Wellington Koo (顧立雄) at a rally for Cheng.
Additional reporting by Tang Tsai-hsin
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said