The three presidential candidates’ campaigns converged in Tainan yesterday — “Super Sunday,” the last weekend day of the campaign before Saturday’s elections — where they took part in motorcades, rallies and campaign events in bids to woo southern voters.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday morning toured the city, a traditional pan-green stronghold, in a motorcade from Yongkang District (永康) before an evening rally in Anping District (安平).
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) began her campaign events by visiting the Kaitai Tianhou Temple (天后宮) in Anping District in the morning.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
Her motorcade then toured the city, traveled to Chiayi for another street procession and then returned to Tainan for a nighttime rally.
The campaign trail of People First Party presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) saw him arrive in Tainan at about noon, where he visited Chenghuang Temple (城隍廟) before traveling to Kaohsiung, where he attended a rally and led a motorcade through the municipality.
The Tainan Police Department said Chu and Tsai’s motorcade routes through the city were plotted to avoid each other.
Photo: Tsai Wen-chu, Taipei Times
A total of 890 police officers were deployed to enhance safety and prevent traffic congestion, the department said.
It had not issued orders to cancel police vacations, while individual precincts were responsible for their duty rosters, the department said.
Citing public safety concerns, the police department, prior to the candidates’ arrival in Tainan, called on the public to refrain from lighting firecrackers, jaywalking or rushing toward motorcades.
Photo: Wang Chieh, Taipei Times
Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) said that Super Sunday this year was “especially ‘super’ for Tainan, as it was the first time that Chu, Tsai and Soong — as presidential candidates — had been in the city on the same day.”
The candidates’ routes had been studied by a city government task force ahead of time to avoid them running into each other, Lai said.
Things that were planned ahead of time included finding out where street processions would overlap and scheduling convoys to pass those intersections at different times, he said.
Photo: Wang Chieh, Taipei Times
“Everyone is a welcomed guest in Tainan and the city government has the duty to ensure the safety of every candidate,” said Lai, who is a member of the DPP.
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
RSS