Sunflower movement leader Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷) yesterday announced he is to withdraw from the New Power Party (NPP), in a surprise move after the “third force” party won its first legislative seats in Saturday’s elections.
“Although there will probably not be anyone who cares: While I am currently an NPP member, I will apply to withdraw from the party tomorrow [yesterday],” Chen said on Facebook early on Sunday.
He said he wished the party’s elected legislators all the best.
Chen headed the campaign of NPP Hsinchu City candidate Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智), who lost to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in a three-way race after refusing to withdraw, despite pressure from the DPP.
The party’s three other district candidates were endorsed by the DPP.
Chen could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Chiu yesterday said that Chen had discussed leaving the party with him, citing Chen as saying he would have to serve his mandatory military service and he has long-term plans to study abroad.
Chen was expelled from a master’s degree in sociology program at National Tsing Hua University for failing to meet attendance requirements due to his campaign commitments.
Chiu denied that disappointment over losing the race was connected with Chen’s decision, adding that rumors his campaign had been “abandoned” by the NPP in the final stretch of the campaign were “nonsense.”
Chen’s decision came after Dennis Wei (魏揚), another Sunflower leader who also worked on Chiu’s campaign, openly endorsed the Green Party-Social Democratic Party Alliance before the elections.
NPP Secretary-General Chen Hui-min (陳惠敏) attributed Chen’s decision to “moodiness,” saying she talk with Chen and other members of Chiu’s campaign team about whether there had been any misunderstandings.
“They were under a lot of pressure for a long time and would worry a lot about whether or not the battle against Ker would hamper other candidates,” she said. “This was all really unfair to them, so for those feeling to explode after the election is perfectly normal.”
She denied the party had “cut off” Chiu during the campaign’s final stretch, stating that they had always hoped he would win.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview. “Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that,” Hsiao told American podcaster Shawn Ryan of the Shawn Ryan Show. She was referring to a timeline cited by several US military and intelligence officials, who said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take military action against Taiwan
RSS