The political geography was little changed yesterday as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), failed to boost their local standings.
Taipei City residents did not enthusiastically take part in the election. Statistics showed only 61 per-cent of voters cast ballots.
PHOTO: WU CHENG-TING, TAIPEI TIMES
In northern Taipei City, or district one, the pan-green camp and the pan-blue camp split the 10 seats down the middle. But the district was the only place the DPP's ballot-allocation strategy worked.
In district two, the pan-blue camp of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the People First Party (PFP) and New Party, retained their strong influence.
The KMT and the DPP each won three seats, the PFP took two and the TSU won one. Independent Li Ao (
The KMT's Lai Shyh-bao (
In Taipei County, the DPP held onto its 11 seats but its ally didn't fare as well. The TSU lost one of the two seats it had gained in 2001 election. The pan-blue camp added three more seats to the 13 it won in 2001 for a total of 16. KMT candidate Wu Yu-sheng (
Although President Chen Shui-bian (
In Taichung City, the pan-green and the pan-blues evenly split the eight seats being contested.
In Yunlin County, the pan-greens gained some ground, although the election was affected by the arrest of former county commissioner Chang Jung-wei (
The pan-greens added one seat to the two they won in the country in 2001 with the victory of TSU councilwoman Yin Lin-in (
In Chiayi County, the DPP safeguarded its three seats by taking 63 percent of the vote, while a KMT candidate won the other seat.
In Tainan County, home not only to President Chen but fanatic pan-green supporters, the DPP held onto its five seats by taking al-most half the votes. The KMT won two seats and an independent candidate took the remaining seat.
In Tainan City, the pan-green camp lost one of the four seats won in 2001 as the TSU's candidate lost. The KMT won two seats and a PFP candidate won one.
In the two electoral districts of Kaohsiung City, the pan-greens gained about 53 percent of the vote, a significantly improvement over the 48 percent won in 2001.
The DPP's Lee Kun-tse (
But the pan-green's vote-allocation strategy didn't work in the southern dis-trict, where they lost one seat. The greens won seven seats, the KMT took two and the PFP won two.
In Pingtung County, the DPP lost one of its four seats. The KMT won two seats and and an independent candidate took one.
In eastern Taiwan, the pan-blues continued their tradition of strong showings. In Taitung County, KMT Legislator Huang Chien-ting (
In Hualien County, DPP Legislator Lu Po-chi (
In offshore counties, independents and other candidates did well. Penghu County's sole seat was won by Lin Ping-kun (
Four Aboriginal candidates were elected in plains townships. The DPP's Chen Ying (
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not