Politicians from the People First Party (PFP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday expressed irritation at the possible endorsement of a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate by Miaoli County Commissioner Fu Hsueh-peng (
Responding to reports that the non-aligned Fu was thinking of collaborating with the DPP, PFP Legislator Hsu Yao-chang (
Complaints
Hsu said that many of Fu's supporters as well as his own are pan-blue-camp stalwarts who had complained to him about Fu's decision on Tuesday.
"If I suddenly change flags from the PFP to the DPP, how could our supporters accept this? How could they vote for me?" Hsu asked.
Fu yesterday said that his cooperation with the DPP followed from a promise the party had made that it would nominate a Hakka candidate, and that he was determined to do what he could to ensure the county's next commissioner would be a Hakka.
Ethnic Rivalry
In contrast, Fu said, the candidate nominated by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Liu Cheng-hung (
Liu yesterday called Fu a troublemaker and said he was disturbing the harmony between ethnic groups. For his part, Fu said that the KMT had expressed little sincerity about cooperating with him.
About 60 percent of people in Miaoli County are Hakka. It is also the county with the largest Hakka population.
Fu said that there were only two people he would consider endorsing in the year-end elections given that Hsu was not willing to run for the DPP. One is the director of the county government's Bureau of Public Works, Han Hong-en (韓鴻恩), and the other is Miaoli City Mayor Chiu Bing-kun (邱炳坤). Both men are Hakka.
"But the final say on the candidate rests with the DPP," Fu said.
Fu made no mention of one other possible candidate mentioned by the DPP on Tuesday, Miaoli Deputy County Commissioner Chen Hsiu-lung (
But pan-blue camp members were not the only people unhappy about the pending collaboration.
TSU legislative caucus whip Ho Min-hao (
"The DPP often says that the pan-green camp should work together and so on, but we still haven't seen the DPP's sincerity in its actions," Ho said.
disappointed
The probable TSU candidate for the Keelung mayoral election, Chen Chien-ming (
"Ironically, [pursuing] its own interest, the DPP has been quick to bring about cooperation with Fu, who represents PFP power, but is turning a cold shoulder to the request of the TSU that the DPP always call it its brother," he said.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
CASE: Prosecutors have requested heavy sentences, citing a lack of remorse and the defendants’ role in ‘undermining the country’s democratic foundations’ Five people affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), including senior staff from the party’s Taipei branch, were indicted yesterday for allegedly forging thousands of signatures to recall two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. Those indicted include KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹), secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿) and secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said in a news release. Prosecutors said the three were responsible for fabricating 5,211 signature forms — 2,537 related to the recall of DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and 2,674 for DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) — with forged entries accounting for