Despite having sought a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nomination for next year’s legislative election, Soochow University associate professor Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) yesterday announced that he would join the New Power Party (NPP) and withdraw from running for district representation.
“I’ve never joined any political party, but since I agree with the NPP’s ideologies and would like to share the responsibility with my friends in the NPP to create a new political party with progressive values, I hereby announce that I am joining the party,” Hsu told a news conference at NPP headquarters in Taipei yesterday.
“I have also decided to withdraw from running for the legislative seats representing the eight electoral districts in Taichung, including Fengyuan (豐原), Shigang (石岡), Shinshe (新社), Dongshi (東勢) and Heping (和平), and plan to support DPP nominee Hsieh Chih-chung (謝志忠),” he added.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Hsu said his father is a native of Shengang District (神岡), and his mother comes from Fengyuan, which is why he decided to help NPP candidate Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸) and the DPP’s Hsieh in their respective electoral districts, rather than running himself.
Asked if he would choose to represent the NPP in other districts, Hsu said he has to keep the promise he made to supporters in the district, which means running in another district would not be an option, adding that he would only play a helping role.
However, when asked if he would seek to be on the NPP’s at-large list, Hsu did not give a direct answer, saying only that his promise so far is not to run in Taichung’s eight electoral districts.
Academia Sinica research fellow and NPP member Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that the NPP would not decide its at-large list in an arbitrary manner.
“We are against dated political behavior, where a few people would meet behind closed doors and come up with an at-large list. We want to allow people outside of the party to participate in the decisionmaking process,” Huang said. “Of course, if everyone wants Hsu on the at-large list, he would be, and vice versa.”
At a separate setting, DPP spokesperson Juan Chao-hsiung (阮昭雄) said that the party would respect each person’s decision, adding that it would continue to work alongside the third political force to maximize the number of seats the DPP and its non-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) allies could win.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan