In the battle for New Taipei City, incumbent mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rode a motorcade across the city’s Jhonghe (中和) and Yonghe (永和) districts during the day, before wrapping up the night with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) at a rally where Chu listed his accomplishments in developing the city and asked voters to give him another term as mayor.
For his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) opponent, Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃), yesterday’s campaigning was a more challenging affair, reflecting his uphill fight against the odds-on favored incumbent.
Early on, Yu was joined by former DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) to canvass votes in Sanchong (三重) and Banciao (板橋) districts before DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) shared the stage with him at an evening rally.
At the rally, Yu cited his achievements during his terms as premier, Yilan County commissioner and other prominent government posts. He called on New Taipei City residents “to vote for change, to oust the bad governance of the KMT government,” which he said has mishandled the economy, enriched the wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle class, and made people suffer from a string of food scandals.
Yu and his supporters experienced some nervy moments at their rally, which was staged at the plaza in front of Banciao Station, just three blocks away from Chu’s event.
Both the DPP and KMT rallies were chosen for their proximity to the New Taipei City Government Building, which is next to Banciao Station, a transportation hub with links to the Taipei MRT, bus routes and railway links.
The New Taipei City Government had refused to grant Yu a permit for the use of the plaza, which the DPP said was a result of Chu using his political clout and the bureauratic apparatus under his administration to hinder the process.
Yu’s campaign team decided to hold the rally anyway, citing the constitutional right to freedom of assembly.
There was a conspicuous police presence at Yu’s rally last night, setting up surveillance cameras on tripods at the back and along the margins of the plaza.
However, the police did not make any obvious interference, nor did they attempt to disrupt proceedings, while DPP officials and supporters grumbled about the heavy presence and monitoring by the authorities.
Toward the end of the rally, police raised a warning placard three times to caution DPP organizers that it was an illegal assembly without an approved permit.
The police actions heightened tension in the crowd, with many booing and venting anger.
As of press time, the police did not make any further moves, as the rally continued with pep talks and music entertainment to its scheduled end at about 10pm.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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