Former Taipei mayoral candidate Pasuya Yao (姚文智) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Friday evening said that he is retiring from politics to produce a documentary about independence activist Peng Ming-min (彭明敏) and hopefully another about democracy advocate Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕).
Yao made the announcement at an event in Taipei to thank his voters.
Yao had vowed to end his political career should he receive fewer votes than two or more candidates in the Nov. 24 Taipei mayoral election.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Of the top three in the five-way race, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) garnered 580,820 votes, or 41.05 percent; the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) received 577,566 votes, or 40.82 percent; and Yao received 244,641 votes, or 17.29 percent.
Cries that Yao should not retire from politics could be heard from the crowd as he took the stage to speak.
“It is my fault as the candidate that we lost this election. I let you down by not fighting hard enough,” he said. “The losses in the [nine-in-one] elections calls for examination and reflection, but more importantly, we should stand together in the struggle for Taiwanese values.”
The KMT’s campaign to discredit democracy in Taiwan and the world should be one of the most important lessons drawn from the elections, he said.
Yao said he is producing a documentary about Peng and talked about his hopes to produce another film about Deng.
When one supporter shouted that he should run for DPP chairman, Yao relied: “I am not going to have the time [for films] if I am the party chairman.”
Yao said that Deng is his hero and he has dreamed of making a film about him for many years.
“The idea of Taiwan as a country has to be deeply planted and Deng is the kind of heroic figure needed for a Taiwanese national identity,” he said. “There are many people from Taiwanese history that I want to make documentaries about.”
A pro-democracy advocate, Deng established Freedom Era Weekly in 1984, in pursuit of what he said was “100 percent freedom of expression.”
Deng, then editor-in-chief, set himself on fire on April 7, 1989, as heavily armed police attempted to break into his office, in which he had spent 71 days of self-imposed isolation after he was charged with sedition for the anti-government views expressed in his magazine, which published a draft “Republic of Taiwan constitution” in 1988.
A fourth public debate was held today about restarting the recently decommissioned Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, ahead of a referendum on the controversial issue to be held in less than two weeks. A referendum on Aug. 23 is to ask voters if they agree that “the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant should continue operations upon approval by the competent authority and confirmation that there are no safety concerns.” Anyone over 18 years of age can vote in the referendum. The vote comes just three months after its final reactor shut down, officially making Taiwan nuclear-free. Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) represented
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
‘ANGRY’: Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of ‘the people of the Republic of China’ experienced disqualified Lai from being president, Ma Ying-jeou said Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II. Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis
RSS