Hundreds of thousands of people yesterday rallied on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in support of Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) at his final large-scale campaign event in the capital before tomorrow’s presidential election.
Han, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, told the rally that since assuming power in 2016, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has deviated from its ideals and become corrupt.
The DPP has accused the KMT of interfering with judicial independence and cracking down on the freedom of the press, but since taking power, the DPP has done those things, proving that “it is a big bad wolf instead of a pure little rabbit,” Han said.
Photo: CNA
The DPP has bribed 90 percent of the nation’s media, interfered with judicial processes and used tax funds to launch online influence campaigns, he added.
“I do not believe that evil can conquer good and that people will continue to be fooled by the DPP,” Han said.
The DPP is leaving Taiwanese with no choice but to seek change, he said, urging people to support him and the KMT in the presidential and legislative elections.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The event in front of the Presidential Office Building began at 5pm and attracted more than 300,000 people in about an hour, organizers said.
By 8:36pm, the turnout had exceeded 900,000 people, they said.
Many supporters wore red and blue, the colors of the Republic of China flag, while many also carried the national flag.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九); KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義); former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who is head of Han’s campaign headquarters; former vice president Lien Chan (連戰); and former KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) attended the event.
Fifteen KMT mayors and county commissioners, including New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), as well as many of the party’s legislative candidates, also attended.
Former premier Simon Chang (張善政), Han’s running mate, asked supporters if they had ever seen so many national flags before and how many they expected to see at President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) rally at the same location tonight.
“Zero,” he said, urging people to vote for Han, “the man who loves the national flag the most.”
“Protecting the national flag is protecting the nation,” Chang said.
Tomorrow is not just any election, but “a key battle that will determine the survival of the Republic of China,” Wu Den-yih said.
Voters would decide if the nation is to move toward prosperity or hardship, face cross-strait peace or standoff, he said.
If the KMT can win the presidential race and regain a legislative majority, it would “reverse the fate of the Republic of China” and help the nation “regain its glory,” he said, adding that the party hopes to secure at least 60 legislative seats.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
RSS