Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday said that she already has a list of potential running mates to consider ahead of a November deadline.
“We already have a list of people to consider and I am pondering the issue,” Tsai told reporters during a campaign event in Taipei.
“It is not time to make a final decision yet, but I will have to decide before the deadline for [candidate] registration,” she said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The registration period for presidential candidates runs from Nov. 23 to Nov. 27, according to the Central Election Commission.
Tsai declined to comment on speculation over who was on the list, saying that rumors might cause trouble for those named.
Asked if she would announce her running mate before September, Tsai said it would depend on how the situation develops.
Tsai announced her running mate for the 2012 presidential election in September 2011.
In other developments, Tsai rebutted criticism from Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Taipei City Councilor Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘), who said that the DPP treated the TSU as a “follower” instead of a friend during negotiations over legislative candidates.
Chen said earlier in the week that, while dealing with other political parties, the DPP simply yields, but with the TSU, the DPP always makes a decision through opinion polls.
“Who said that?” Tsai asked. “The DPP holds the same attitude toward all [political allies], whether it is the TSU or others.”
“The idea is: When we can negotiate for a common candidate, we negotiate. If we can not, we make the decision through opinion polls,” she added.
The DPP has announced it will not nominate legislative candidates for several constituencies where the New Power Party, the Social Democratic Party, the TSU, and the People First Party have made nominations.
However, Chen’s daughter, Chen Hsi-yu (陳思宇), is to compete with DPP Taipei City Councilor Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) in a poll over the nomination for the legislative seat representing Taipei’s Shilin (士林) and Beitou (北投) districts.
Wu said that Chen Chien-ming’s criticism was unfair to Tsai, because the DPP wanted her to run because it believes she has a better chance of winning than another candidate.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS