A TVBS poll suggests that student activist Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷) would defeat outgoing Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) for the vacancy in the legislature left by Miaoli County commissioner-elect Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌).
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is still considering its candidate, while Liu is a possible candidate representing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
The TVBS survey showed Chen had a support rate of 40 percent compared with 35 percent for Liu.
Photo: Su Meng-chuan, Taipei Times
Liu also faced a challenge from defeated DPP Miaoli County commissioner candidate Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻), who lead Liu in support by 50 percent to 28 percent in an earlier poll. However, Wu announced her withdrawal from the race on Tuesday, praising Chen for his decision to join the race, where non-KMT candidates normally face a tough battle.
Wu said she approves of Chen’s abilities, adding that she would root for any candidate that the DPP backs.
Before bursting onto the national scene as one of the student leaders of the Sunflower movement, Chen had already been active in social movements, with protests over a land expropriation case in Miaoli’s Dapu Borough (大埔) just one of his battlefields.
The incident involved the Miaoli County Government’s seizure of farmland to expand the Jhunan Township (竹南) science park, blocking off roads and sending excavators onto farmland awaiting harvest.
Dapu resident Chang Sen-wen (張森文) was found dead two months after his house was demolished by the Miaoli County authorities in July last year in the name of county development. His death was determined to be a suicide, though his family and supporters blamed the government.
Liu was barred from paying his respects to Chang by the deceased man’s family and supporters.
Chen admitted to throwing a shoe at the commissioner over the expropriations, prompting Liu to file a lawsuit that saw Chen made to pay NT$10,000.
Chen was also indicted by the Miaoli District Court for interfering with official duties and destroying property, among other charges related to the incident.
The poll was conducted by the TVBS Poll Center from Friday last week to Tuesday night. A total of 973 respondents aged 20 and above from the constituency were contacted.
The survey has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book