The future of pan-green integration in New Taipei City’s first electoral district yesterday appeared uncertain, with New Power Party (NPP) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative candidates making conflicting statements about whether an agreement had been reached.
Author and NPP candidate Neil Peng (馮光遠) said a consensus had been reached in cross-party talks, with an Internet debate and televised “forum” to be held prior to polling to “integrate” his campaign with that of DPP candidate Lu Sun-ling (呂孫綾).
Whichever candidate had a lower level of support level — based on the integration poll — would be expected to withdraw from the race and throw their support to the other in the race against the incumbent, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇).
A debate and forum were necessary to allow voters to make an informed choice ahead of the integration poll, Peng said.
“[Lu] has purchased a lot of outdoor, radio and television advertisements, but we do not have the money for that,” he said.
The agreement was a compromise relative to his initial demand for three full debates, adding that a meeting was scheduled for today to discuss details, Peng said.
Integration in the district has been a major issue of contention between the two parties, which have generally sought to avoid competition between their legislative candidates.
Lu was quoted on the Chinese-language Web media New Talk site as saying that no consensus over integration has been reached.
Any encounter with Peng “does not necessarily have to be televised,” but should be transparent and “friendly,” Lu said, adding there was no precedent for a debate between legislative candidates.
In related news, NPP Hsinchu City legislative candidate Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said there has been no progress on integration in his district, the only other area where the NPP and DPP are going head-to-head.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) had yet to respond to his demand for a debate to be held before any integration polling, Chiu said.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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