Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) yesterday said former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has agreed to serve as supreme adviser for his Taipei mayoral election campaign.
“We came to ask for his support in my campaign and listened to his opinions on the election and future governance,” Yao said. “I especially asked him to be the supreme adviser for my campaign and future municipal administration, and I am grateful that he agreed.”
Yao talked to reporters after he walked out of an apartment building with Chen during a surprise morning visit to Kaohsiung, along with Ketagalan Institute president and political commentator Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒).
Photo: CNA
Chen defeated three strong candidates in the 1994 Taipei mayoral election and became the best mayor the city has ever had, Yao said, adding that he hopes Chen would share his experiences with the campaign.
Yao quoted Chen as telling him that the DDP has not governed Taipei for 20 years, so hopefully the younger generation of party members could take the responsibility and transform the party’s values and beliefs into good administrative performances.
Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator and Taipei mayoral candidate Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) said that Chen should be taken back to prison, as his behavior has violated the rules of his compassionate release.
Chen was sentenced to 20 years in jail for corruption. He had served more than six years when he in January 2015 was granted medical parole after being diagnosed with dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
Taichung Prison, where Chen was incarcerated, yesterday said it would decide how to respond after assessing the situation further.
Additional reporting by Chien Hui-ju and Chang Jui-chen
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that