President Chen Shui-bian (
"We know that winning 100 seats is a difficult task but it is not unreachable," said DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (
"The president believes there is a lot of room for the DPP to increase the number of its seats, as long as we make an all-out effort in the home stretch," Lee said.
According to the latest poll, the DPP might secure 94 seats -- with 73 local legislators and 21 at-large legislators, Lee said. He added that Chen hopes that the party will win at least 78 elected seats that it can name 22 legislators-at-large and thereby take 100 seats.
"If the Taiwan Solidarity Union [TSU] can get at least 20 seats, it is not a dream for the pan-green camp to become the largest alliance in the legislature," Lee said.
At present the DPP has 87 seats and the TSU has 13.
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Chung Chia-pin (
"Chen encouraged candidates to believe that gaining a majority is more important than achieving personal success," Chung said.
Chung said the party thinks constituencies in the north and center have the potential to elect more DPP candidates.
He added that the party's four campaign teams have raised the DPP's support rate and Chen will join the campaign trail to boost the candidates' momentum in the middle of next month.
"The DPP sees that the pan-green's turf is steadily growing and the pan-blue camp is losing its support," DPP Information and Culture Department Director Cheng Wen-tsan (
He predicted that the People First Party (PFP) would lose at least 10 seats because of a series of malicious remarks. Cheng cited Chen's statements in the Central Standing Committee meeting that the PFP's remarks might have destroyed diplomatic achievements and caused insurmountable damage.
"The PFP might just eat its own bitter fruits when the election results are announced," Cheng said.
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
Renovations on the B3 concourse of Taipei Main Station are to begin on Nov. 1, with travelers advised to use entrances near the Taiwan Railway or high-speed rail platforms or information counter to access the MRT’s Red Line. Construction is to be completed before the end of next year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said last week. To reduce the impact on travelers, the NT$95 million (US$2.95 million) project is to be completed in four stages, it said. In the first stage, the hall leading to the Blue Line near the art exhibition area is to be closed from Nov. 1 to the end
WARNING: Domestic coffee producers mainly grow arabica beans, as they self-pollinate, but they are more likely to have consistency issues, an expert said Taiwan ranks third in coffee consumption per capita in Asia, the latest Ministry of Agriculture data showed. Taiwanese consume 1.77kg, or 177 cups of coffee, per person each year, less only than Japan and South Korea, at 600 cups and 400 cups respectively, the ministry’s Tea and Beverage Research Station said. Although the nation mainly relies on imported coffee, there has been an increase in home-grown coffee bean production, the ministry said. Cuttings and other techniques are commonly used to ensure domestic beans have stronger floral and fruity flavors, it said. It is a fast-expanding market with Taiwan’s coffee consumption
RSS