Hualien Mayor Tien Chih-hsuan (田智宣), who was the only Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member to have been elected as a municipal official in Hualien and was considered a pioneer for the party in an area that is overwhelmingly pro-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), died yesterday at the age of 56.
Tien was diagnosed with lung cancer before the Jan. 16 elections.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), accompanied by DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), arrived at Tien’s residence late yesterday afternoon to pay her respects, after inspecting two air force bases in Hualien County.
Photo: Hua Meng-ching, Taipei Times
“Tien was a person who wholeheartedly focused on his work, and would even sacrifice his life for it,” Tsai said. “There is a lot of work he was yet to complete. We will help him to finish what he could not.”
Tsai had already been scheduled to visit Tien yesterday while she was in Hualien.
Tien’s wife, Chang Mei-hui (張美慧), said she is happy she married Tien and became part of his family.
“I believe we will meet again. I will shed my tears in a place where no one is around,” she said.
Hsiao, the first DPP legislator elected in Hualien County since 1992, lamented Tien’s passing on Facebook.
“This has been a disturbing night, the thing that would sadden me the has happened. All these years you have been my most important partner and supporter in Hualien, and you have been someone to rely on for leading Hualien forward,” Hsiao wrote. “My heart ached to see your pain and suffering, but at the end, we still have to say goodbye, so that you may be freed from the sickness. Your efforts have left beautiful marks for Hualien.”
Tien started his political career in a village warden’s office. Over the past 20 years he was elected a Hualien County councilor, Jian Township (吉安) mayor, and Hualien mayor, without loosing an election, creating a legacy in Hualien, where pan-blue politicians enjoy overwhelming support.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
NUMBERs IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
RSS