Heavy metal band Chthonic lead vocalist and New Power Party founder Freddy Lim (林昶佐) yesterday announced that he would join the legislative race for Taipei City’s Wanhua (萬華) and Zhongzheng (中正) districts, just a few days after bowing out of the competition for the Daan District (大安) seat.
“There is no need to be confused; we have to bravely defend our homeland — Taiwan — on the battlefield,” Lim told a news conference in front of Longshan Temple (龍山寺) in Wanhua. “My name is Freddy Lim; I have firmly decided that I will run for a legislative seat representing Wanhua and Zhongzheng districts.”
Lim announced last month that he would run for the Daan and Wenshan (文山) district seat, as he was born and raised in Daan.
Photo: Min Wei, Taipei Times
However, after Fan Yun (范雲) of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) also announced her candidacy in the same constituency on Monday, Lim decided to yield, saying he would continue his legislative campaign in another constituency.
Explaining his decision, Lim said that, rather than focusing on his own victory, he is more concerned with how the “progressive force” may be maximized.
“The place where my capacity to fight could be maximized, more energy could be gathered and the progressive force may win is my battlefield,” Lim said.
“I believe I am a candidate who has a bigger chance of winning in this particular constituency,” he said.
Asked to comment on rumors that the SPD might also nominate a candidate for the electoral district, Lim said that he has been in close touch with the SPD and the two parties are on good terms.
He said he does not believe the SPD would nominate a candidate wherever he decides to run, and the party had told him in private that it has no plan to do so.
“If another party were to follow wherever I go, I think everyone would feel weird about it,” Lim said. “I do not think this would happen, unless they are drunk.”
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS