People First Party (PFP) presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) has become embroiled in controversy once again after a two-minute televised commercial aired during the 50th Golden Bell Awards ceremony on Saturday.
Produced by a pro-Soong organization titled the “Spring Breeze Youth Policy Think Tank,” the commercial featured video clips of Soong visiting people affected by natural catastrophes during his term as Taiwan provincial governor from 1994 to 1998, joining political events and interacting with his late wife, Chen Wan-shui (陳萬水).
A slogan appeared a few seconds before the advertisement ended, reading: “[Only those who are] faithful to their wives and faithful to their children will be faithful to their country.”
The commercial quickly drew criticism online.
Some netizens said the commercial’s underlying concept equated single people to disloyal residents, while others said Soong must have been unfaithful to his country before he got married and had children.
Taipei City Councilor Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said on Facebook on Saturday night that the PFP was relapsing into its old habit of attacking single women.
“The PFP has just apologized for its attack on unmarried, single women. And now it is doing it again,” Kao said.
Kao shared a screenshot of a much-criticized picture posted by a PFP-managed fan page on Monday last week, which depicted presidential candidates Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party and Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) against the backdrop of a photograph of a mother carrying her child on her back.
It featured a slogan reading: “How can two single women possibly understand the needs of a family?”
The picture was removed after severe criticism online and PFP Deputy Secretary-General Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) apologized over “inappropriate comments” aimed at single women.
Soong campaign office spokesperson Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) said the advertisement was made by PFP supporters and that the party did not play any part in its production.
“Soong is grateful for all the support he has received from the public ... but the slogan depicted in the ad does not reflect his values or principles,” Chen Yi-chieh said.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
RSS