The Megaport Festival “has made many mothers weep,” Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) wife, Lee Chia-fen (李佳芬), said yesterday. It was not clear what she was insinuating.
Lee made the remarks while campaigning for Han, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, and KMT Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) in New Taipei City, adding that as a mother she knows what many parents are worried about.
The festival’s organizers last month announced that there would not be a 12th Megaport Festival next year after facing pressure from the Kaohsiung City Government.
Photo: Ho Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The festival, cofounded by metal band Chthonic frontman Freddy Lim (林昶佐), now an independent legislator, is frequently headlined by rock band Fire EX, which promotes Taiwanese independence.
As a mother, she would like to see a society that is built on harmony and reciprocity, Lee said.
For that reason, Han has been working hard to improve the nation’s economy and education, while caring for the disadvantaged, she said.
Han would aim to improve the nation’s education system and take care of the disadvantaged if elected president, she added.
While Han was running for mayor last year, she encountered many mothers who cried in her arms due to worries about their children’s school curriculum, Lee said.
She learned from her trips across Asia that Taiwanese children are gifted and would have a great future if they were given the proper opportunities and training, she said.
It would be the “sin of our generation” if we fail to provide a good environment for our children, Lee added.
In related news, KMT Chairman Wu Den-Yih (吳敦義) yesterday said he has not received word on KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) being tapped to be Han’s running mate when asked to comment on the rumor on the sidelines of a rally in Miaoli County.
Chiang had on Saturday dismissed the rumor as untrue.
Previously, former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), former premier Simon Chang (張善政) and former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) had all been rumored to be Han’s vice presidential candidate.
Wu told reporters in Miaoli that Han has asked him who would make a good vice president.
He suggested that Han find someone who can complement him and work well with him, Wu said.
He also told Han that he must pick his own vice president and wished him good luck, he said.
While it was rumored that Han was originally scheduled to attend the Miaoli rally with local KMT legislative candidates Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) and Hsu Chih-jung (徐志榮), Hsu said that Han had informed party members that he would not be attending the rally.
Han would definitely visit Miaoli, Hsu added.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
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More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
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