A report yesterday that CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC) chairman Derek Chen (陳金德) is to run for Yilan County Commissioner sparked speculation about the regional election, despite Chen’s denial.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) plans to make Chen Yilan’s acting commissioner before designating him the party’s candidate for the commissioner election next year, the Chinese-language China Times said, citing an unnamed DPP source.
Chen will be named acting commissioner following the conclusion of the National Games in Yilan, but before the county council is reconvened, the China Times said.
Photo: CNA
The paper said DPP Electoral Strategy Committee convener Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) had argued in favor of Chen for the race, which is expected to be tough, because he is a former Yilan county councilor and a fellow member of the “New Tide” faction.
“At the moment, I do not have plans or thoughts of running for Yilan County Commissioner,” Chen said when asked to respond.
“This is just some newspaper leak, although I am pretty surprised,” said DPP Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀), who has announced his candidacy in the nomination process for county commissioner.
Chen Ou-po said he declared his intention to run as a candidate in June after he was in March accosted by party leaders.
“Naming an acting commissioner is the decision and prerogative of the party’s central organization and I am not at liberty to comment,” Chen Ou-po said.
“We go way back. We are competitors within the party and partners outside of it. If he returns to run in Yilan, we will make some very beautiful sparks fly,” he said of his relations with Derek Chen.
Responding to rumors that Derek Chen is backed by high-level officials in the administration, Chen Ou-po said he was confident he had garnered enough support.
“Feel free to ask Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) or President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文),” he said.
The DPP Electoral Strategy Committee is confident that both Acting Yilan County Commissioner Wu Tze-cheng (吳澤成) and Derek Chen would make excellent candidates with their broad experience in government, DPP spokesman Chang Chih-hao (張志豪) said.
The committee expects to finish nominating candidates that would run for the DPP in the city mayor and county commissioner elections by Lunar New Year, he said.
The committee calls on party politicians to reach an agreement with each other and prevent contested primaries, Chang said.
Although Yilan historically leans toward the DPP, the election this year could prove challenging and the party needs unity, he added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) said the party has “high hopes” for Yilan. adding that the KMT will field a strong candidate regardless of whom the DPP sends.
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