Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday urged the New Power Party (NPP) to continue with its election campaign despite its tight budget and think about what it stands for.
“The NPP is feeling alive again,” Chen wrote on Facebook after meeting with NPP Chairman Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), NPP office director Chen Hui-min (陳惠敏) and Kaohsiung City Councilor Lin Yu-kai (林于凱), who visited his home in Kaohsiung.
The meeting was arranged on Hsu’s request and lasted for about an hour, NPP spokesman Lee Chao-li (李兆立) said, adding that it was a learning experience for Hsu.
Photo: Peng Wan-hsin, Taipei Times
The NPP would like to visit a senior politician, given that it has nominated legislative candidates in Kaohsiung and has city councilors there, Lee said.
Chen Shui-bian was particularly interested in the NPP’s campaign in the city’s Fongshan District (鳳山) and encouraged the NPP to conduct an election campaign that is “true to itself,” Lee said.
The group discussed general matters as well as the nation’s political landscape, Chen Hui-min said, adding that the former president, who is on medical parole, seemed to have retained his sharp senses.
Chen Shui-bian encouraged the NPP to have individuality, make the most of a financially difficult campaign and think clearly what its purpose is, he said.
Chen Shui-bian told them that he had initially thought that the NPP lacked a clear objective and was on the brink of dissolution, which worried him, as he believed that the NPP performed well at the legislature, Chen Hui-min said.
Meeting with Hsu allayed Chen Shui-bian’s worries and he was convinced that the party “would not fall apart,” Chen Hui-min said.
The former president said he had been brainstorming about how to help President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) win the election, adding that if it was a head-to-head race between Tsai and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), Tsai had a greater chance of winning, Chen Hui-min said.
If Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) or Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) entered as a third candidate, Tsai would need to think about whether she needs a new strategy, Chen Shui-bian was quoted as saying.
The former president urged Chen Hui-min to visit markets and show up at intersections to boost her visibility in her run a legislative seat representing Fongshan, as this would help her against mobilization by the KMT, which hinges on an old network, Chen Hui-min said.
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
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
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
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