Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) yesterday announced his withdrawal from the election for TSU chairman in the interests of political stability, after talking to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) for about three hours at Lee's residence yesterday afternoon.
"Former president Lee told me he has observed that people are tired of the ongoing chaotic political situation and said that the TSU should set an example of consolidation and harmony for society," Lo said yesterday.
Reform is Priorty
"The important thing for the TSU right now is to reform the party and recruit more new blood so we have the base to democratize the TSU," Lo quoted Lee as saying.
"Therefore, I have decided to drop out of the TSU chairmanship election and not compete with Su Chin-chiang (
The three hopefuls for the TSU chairmanship, prior to Lo's announcement that he would withdraw, included Su, secretary-general of the National Cultural Association, TSU Legislator-at-large Kuo Lin-yung (
But some TSU members did not agree with the choice of Su, who Lee enlisted to campaign for the post before he left on a trip to Japan last week. As such, Lo and Kuo also announced they would join the race.
Kuo said yesterday he would respect Lee's opinion although he has not spoken with him on the issue yet.
Meanwhile, Lo said that Lee also spoke of the makeup of the next Cabinet.
Lee held a positive attitude toward cooperation between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the People First Party (PFP), he said.
"Former President Lee supports the so-called `united Cabinet' and urges everyone to support President Chen Shui-bian's (
Soong for Premier?
When asked whether Lee agreed with the suggestion that PFP Chairman James Soong (
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically