The election-eve campaigns of two Greater Taichung mayoral candidates separately attracted thousands of supporters yesterday, with each event featuring a “special guest” showing their support for the candidates, either in person or via video.
Incumbent Taichung Mayor Jason Hu’s (胡志強) campaign featured President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺).
Ma, who doubles as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman, praised Hu’s achievements during his time in office and said: “If Hu gets elected, there will be no shortage of budget allocated from the central government for his promised constructions.”
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The KMT’s Hu said the Pingtung County farmer who provided tip-offs in the recent cooking oil scandal had agreed to show his support, but was turned town by Hu out of security concerns. The farmer appeared in a video shown during the event to express his gratitude to Greater Taichung’s police in the oil scandal.
Hu’s rally site, an open space next to a shopping mall and surrounded by newly built luxury high-rise apartments, was filled with supporters in groups led by people upholding plates with district names. The event also saw police stationed at the entrance checking people’s backpacks as it was rumored that protesters might come to interrupt the event.
The outdoor theater in a forest park chosen by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taichung mayoral candidate Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) for his election-eve rally was similarly packed. The “mystery guests” invited by the team turned out to be the sister and uncle of army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘), whose death — allegedly from abuse while serving in the military — had brought tens of thousands protesters onto the streets to protest against the military abuses of human rights.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
Hung’s sister, Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸), said she was grateful for Lin’s attention and care even after the publicity over the tragedy had faded.
Lin’s wife, Liao Wan-ju (廖婉如), who said she was speaking on stage for Lin for the first time since Lin went into politics, said that although Hu has been touting his achievements in the urban areas of Greater Taichung, he had failed to see “the widened urban-rural divide in the downtown area, let alone in outer Taichung.”
Lin echoed the concern, adding that as Hu “has already been in office for 14 years,” it is time to pass the baton to someone else.
“Be grateful to Hu, and vote for Lin,” he told a cheering crowd. “Let’s together say goodbye to Mayor Hu and welcome the new era with Lin as the helmsman.”
Lin’s event was also attended by DPP heavyweights.
Former DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), former Presidential Office secretary-general Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) and DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) all appeared at the event to show their support.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
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
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
RSS