Former Council of Agriculture deputy minister Weng Chang-liang (翁章梁) yesterday won the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) primary election for the Chiayi County commissioner race, with the party scheduled to officially approve his nomination on Wednesday next week.
The result of three telephone opinion surveys conducted by three polling agencies on Monday showed that Weng had a combined support rating of 43.77 percent, while Chiayi County Council Speaker Chang Ming-ta (張明達) garnered 35.36 percent.
The result was not a surprise as Weng had led Chang by about 5 percentage points in previous opinion polls.
Photo: CNA
Weng, a member of the 1990 Wild Lily student movement, was Chiayi County Social Affairs Bureau director for 11 years before becoming a deputy minister.
Asking Chang’s supporters to back him in the Nov. 24 elections, Weng called for unity among the DPP.
“Everyone is urged to stay united. Bickering and provocative statements should be avoided. Humility, restraint and unity are necessary to achieve election victory,” he said.
Chang’s and Weng’s campaign teams on Monday had accused each other of interfering with the polling process.
In a news conference in Chiayi City, Chang’s team said their supporters received “fake” telephone calls, during which a tape recording was playing asking listeners to respond to a set of polling questions, while the real survey was conducted by people.
Chang’s team accused Weng’s team of making the fake calls to keep the phone lines of Chang supporters tied up so they could not receive calls from the real polling agencies.
It asked the DPP and the judiciary to investigate the alleged election violation, adding that legal action would be taken over any illegal practice that might affect Chang’s chances.
DPP Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘), the director of Weng’s campaign team, said his group did not make such phone calls, adding that Weng’s supporters had received similar calls, which were believed to have come from Chang’s side.
Tsai also accused former DPP legislator Lin Kuo-ching (林國慶), a Chang supporter, of trying to influence the opinion polls by disseminating false polling information.
Chiayi County Commissioner Helen Chang (張花冠), who supported Chang Ming-ta’s bid, urged the DPP to restore party solidarity following the divisive primary to ensure the party’s victory in November.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS