The legislative race of independent Lin Chin-chang (林晉章) has been marked by media spectacles following his public call on Oct. 1 urging the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to drop its adherence to the "one China" policy and a violent encounter outside the KMT headquarters after his subsequent dismissal from the party on Oct. 27.
While Lin has since continued his calls for the KMT to drop the policy, which advocates eventual unification with China, as part of his campaign strategy, it remains to be seen if the maverick Taipei City councilor will become a member of next year's legislature.
Speaking with the Taipei Times last night, Lin said that he had wanted to run for the legislature ever since he joined the KMT.
"As someone with a legal background, it's natural for me to want to create legislation myself," said Lin, who has a law degree from National Chengchi University.
Lin said he knew the party was unlikely to support his legislative bid, but he decided to run this year anyway.
While it might seem that the party's decision to revoke his membership might be due to his outspokenness, legislative candidate Pan Chien-kuo (龐建國) said that that was not necessarily the case.
"In an area as competitive as the south district, the party needed to draw clear the boundary between Lin and its official candidates for voters, so that his candidacy would not threaten the chances of the KMT's favored nominees," said the People First Party legislator yesterday.
Lin is running in the hotly competitive Taipei City south district, which has thirty candidates vying for its ten legislative seats.
Pan is also hoping for a seat in that district.
It is unlikely that the punitive action was due to Lin's publicized calls for the KMT to drop its adherence to the "one China" policy, said Pan, since at the time of the party's decision, Lin's pleas had not yet received wide media coverage.
Although Lin was not widely known at first, his stance against the "one China" policy has since gained steam with the establishment of his Movement to Abandon the "One China" Policy Alliance.
At the alliance's establishment ceremony in Oct. 24, Lin saw over a thousand people show up to express their support.
It remains to be seen how Lin's candidacy will affect the voting situation in Taipei south .
When asked about his chances, he candidly admitted that things do not seem optimistic.
"According to media polls, I'm anywhere from the number 11 to number 14 in the district, not one of the 10 that will get a seat.
But there's still some time before the election," Lin said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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