The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday opened its first regional office in Hsinchu as it seeks to spread national roots after winning its first seats in the Jan. 16 legislative elections.
NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said the party chose Hsinchu to open its first regional office, because it received the highest percentage of at-large legislative ballots from the city.
The office is to serve as a “civic platform” to help the party to cooperate with local residents and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to help spread its ideas and recruit new members, he said.
Huang said a second wave of offices is to be established in Taipei, Taichung and Hualien, followed by a third wave in Tainan and Kaohsiung, as the party seeks to put down roots and “blossom everywhere” in the nation.
Party officials would also embark on a tour of southern Taiwan next month to report on the party’s work in the Legislative Yuan and meet with supporters in Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung, he added.
Despite the party’s “pan-green” stance, the NPP grassroots operatives have been concentrated almost exclusively in the northern and central electoral districts, where it fielded candidates prior to the elections.
After winning five seats in the elections, the party said that it would concentrate the political party subsidies it receives on building a nationwide organization.
Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智), the party’s former Hsinchu legislative candidate who is to head the local office, said that cooperating with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to provide services to voters would set it apart from ordinary party offices.
“What makes the NPP different is that we were originally organized by NGOs. Other than improving our local operation, we will also cooperate closely with NGOs,” he said, citing plans to provide free legal counsel in conjunction with the Judicial Reform Foundation, as well as plans to cooperate with Citizen Congress Watch to bring transparency to the local city council.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
The Grand Hotel Taipei has rejected media reports claiming that the hotel had prevented CBS from broadcasting coverage of the Beijing summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on its premises. Media reports alleging that the hotel owner, dissatisfied with CBS’s coverage, prohibited the network from broadcasting political content on the hotel premises, are not true, the hotel said in a statement issued last night. The reports were “inconsistent with how the hotel actually handled the matter,” it said. The hotel said it received a refund request from a
RSS