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.
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
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit the UK during her ongoing European trip, which originally included only Lithuania and Denmark, her office said today. Tsai departed Taiwan for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark, marking her second visit to the continent since her two-term presidency ended in May last year. Her office issued a statement today saying that Tsai would also visit the UK "for a few days," during which she is to meet with UK politicians and Taiwanese professionals, and visit academic and research institutions. Following Tsai's stop in Denmark, she is to visit the
RSS