New Power Party (NPP) caucus whip Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) was yesterday elected party chairman after beating Taipei City Councilor Lin Liang-chun (林亮君) in a chairperson by-election.
Speaking at a news conference after the vote, Hsu said he had originally wanted to convince former chairman Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) to reassume the position, but changed his mind after Chiu urged him to take over the chairmanship.
On Tuesday, the party’s decisionmaking committee failed to elect a leader after members voted 4-7 against Lin, the only candidate to have registered for the vote by its Sunday deadline.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Yesterday, seven committee members voted for Hsu, while five voted for Lin, NPP spokesman Chen Chih-ming (陳志明) said.
While the party has yet to schedule a date for Hsu to officially assume the chairmanship, he would immediately take over party affairs, Chen said.
“The NPP’s future strategies will mostly be an extension of what Chiu has laid down,” Hsu said.
The NPP would adhere to its belief in justice and fairness, and seek to carve out a new path different from those of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), he said.
While the NPP has faced a number of challenges from within and outside, he would swiftly and effectively prepare the party for the presidential and legislative elections in January next year, he added.
The NPP’s goal for the legislative elections is to perform better than it did in the 2016 elections, he said.
Specifically, he hopes the NPP would receive more than 1 million party votes, he said.
The NPP would nominate more legislative candidates in different constituencies and hopes to continue to play a pivotal role at the legislature, he added.
Asked if he would collaborate with the DPP or other pan-green parties in the elections, Hsu said he would keep an open mind.
“I am always ready to talk and can meet as many times as needed,” he said, adding that he hopes to meet with DPP Chairman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) to discuss collaborating in the elections as well as at the legislature.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS