A team is expected to be ready to run President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) election campaign at the end of next month, with former vice premier Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) leading the overall election strategy, while Sunflower movement leader Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) would appeal to younger voters, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) sources said.
Lin Fei-fan was on Monday last week appointed the party’s deputy secretary-general.
Taiwan is to hold presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 11 next year.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Tsai’s campaign headquarters would likely open in October in Taipei, the sources said, adding that its overall structure would be based on four main sections: policy platform, publicity, organization and local support groups.
Campaign offices are being organized in every city and county, they said.
There would be a central office to coordinate the likely hundreds of support groups formed by industry and business sectors, the sources added.
To cut expenses, regional campaign headquarters would be established later, even though their respective campaign managers and staff would be ready next month, they said.
The three DPP deputy secretary-generals, Lin Fei-fan, Kuo Kun-wen (郭昆文) and Kao Hsing-hsueh (高幸雪), would run the publicity, organization and secretariat sections respectively, the sources said.
Lin Fei-fan would also be responsible for growing support for Tsai among younger people, while Kuo and Kao would act as spokespeople and media liaisons for their respective sections, they added.
After Tsai won the party’s primary to become its presidential candidate, the first task was to begin the preparations for setting up national and regional campaign offices, the sources said.
A campaign office is up and running near the DPP headquarters on Taipei’s Peiping E Road, at which Lin Hsi-yao and former DPP secretary-general Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) are already organizing campaign efforts, they said.
DPP Central Standing Committee member Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠) has also joined the office, the sources added.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central