Cooperation among candidates from smaller political parties showed a glimmer of hope yesterday, as the New Power Party’s (NPP) Freddy Lim (林昶佐) withdrew from the legislative race in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) to make way for Fan Yun (范雲) of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
In a dramatic turn of events, Lim, frontman of metal band Chthonic, declared his withdrawal within an hour of Fan officially announcing her bid for legislator yesterday morning.
Lim said he would continue his legislative campaign in another constituency in Taipei, adding that his decision would be finalized by Thursday.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
He added that withdrawing from the race could prevent the ruling “party-state interest structure” from reaping the benefits of disunity among minor parties with progressive agendas.
“Our goal has always been to bring together progressive forces and win the election,” Lim said. “In expressing openness and goodwill [toward potential allies], we require more action instead of just talk.”
The move was seen as an attempt at reconciliation, as both parties emerged from a split in the Taiwan Citizen’s Union activist group after its members encountered differences over legislative nomination mechanisms.
Earlier in the morning, Fan made official her bid to enter the legislative race for Daan, confirming months of speculation.
Along with other members of the SDP — which is to be officially launched by the end of this month — Fan vowed to introduce a new political culture centered on the public discussion of policy-oriented goals.
She said that the nation’s politics were blighted by collusion between large corporations and politicians, while the needs of underprivileged groups were constantly ignored.
Fan, a professor of sociology at National Taiwan University, has more than two decades of experience in social activism, including advocacy for women’s rights and supporting pro-democracy student movements.
As both parties were launched by veteran social activists and count prominent supporters of Taiwanese independence among their ranks, the NPP and SDP are more likely to compete for pan-green voters who lean toward the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
However, the two nascent parties have adopted markedly different attitudes toward the presidential election, which is to be held concurrently with the legislative elections in January next year.
Fan said yesterday that the SDP would not endorse any presidential candidate, as the SDP was launched precisely to voice dissatisfaction toward both major parties.
In contrast, NPP founder and human rights lawyer Lin Feng-jeng (林?正) said that his party would eventually announce its support for a presidential candidate, as “elections are always a matter of comparison.”
While the NPP has expressed its desire to forge an alliance with the DPP, Fan said that the SDP would limit its options to other minor parties, such as the environmental issue-based Green Party.
“Any kind of cooperation should be built upon common ideals; a short-term alliance based merely on winning votes does not carry much meaning,” Fan said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard