Former Tainan county commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) yesterday formally announced that he is running as an independent candidate for Tainan mayor in November’s nine-in-one elections.
Su decided to run as an independent because the pan-green camp already has a nominee, but he feels that he is the best candidate given his familiarity with the city, he told a news conference in Yongkang District (永康).
Su on March 3 announced that he would leave the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and run for Taipei mayor, but yesterday said he decided to return to Tainan because the media in Taipei were focused on the competition between the DPP and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidates.
Photo: CNA
Although he originally hoped to promote local autonomy in Taipei’s districts, boroughs and communities “so that everyone could contribute to the city,” Su found that he could not get his policies across to the public due to the media’s focus on the two main parties, he said.
While there would be some voter overlap between him, DPP nominee Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲), independent candidate Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) and KMT nominee Kao Su-po (高思博), Su said that he could solve the city’s problems.
His time as county commissioner made him very familiar with economic and regional development, and his successes gained him many supporters, he said.
Property taxes in Tainan rose 81 percent when Premier William Lai (賴清德) was its mayor and the city collected back taxes going back years, which affected 120,000 residents, he said.
Su vowed to stop collecting back taxes, return those already paid and formally apologize to the city’s residents, he said.
Kao yesterday said that Su was more capable at municipal administration than his “apprentice” Huang, adding that Su offers city residents a better choice.
Huang mistakenly believes he could “win lying down,” but the DPP’s hold on power in Tainan is waning, Kao added.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
RSS