The by-election to choose a new Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leader is not only an image-building campaign to restore the DPP's democratic image, but also a turning point that will decide how much influence President Chen Shui-bian (
The first, boisterous televised debate among the three candidates -- former Presidential Office secretary-general Yu Shyi-kun, Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) and former Changhua County commissioner Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) -- was held last Saturday afternoon. In addition to elaborating on their campaign platforms, the three candidates criticized their opponents. A large proportion of the debate focused on defending or attacking Chen's leadership of the DPP.
In contrast to Yu's defense of Chen, Wong and Tsai took more challenging attitudes toward the president. Wong even suggested that the current administration may be the biggest threat to the DPP's credibility the party has ever faced.
Although it is not unusual for DPP members to criticize fellow party members to articulate their political beliefs, it was surprising that Wong, a female political veteran known for her moderate attitude, leveled blunt rhetoric at Chen.
She said the DPP has become a party in which "what the president says, goes."
Political commentators said that Wong's outspokenness was actually being powered by former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄), who was also the key person who had persuaded Wong to run for the party chairmanship.
Lin has publicly announced his support of Wong.
"It shows that this former chairman is not unmoved by the DPP's ups and downs and still cares about the party's development," said Chen Yi-shen (
"An intransigent idealist like Lin will not be absent from the 2008 presidential election, whether he becomes a presidential candidate or as an influential figure," Chen Yi-shen said.
Hsu Yung-ming (
This reveals Lin's intention to run in the 2008 presidential election, Hsu said.
"Lin does not want Chen Shui-bian to have too much control over the party and hopes there is some power that will be able to balance the president's oligarchic influence," Hsu said.
Although Lin has endorsed Wong, Yu has the best chance of winning, since he has been enjoying a good relationship with the president, and the biggest faction in the DPP also seems to support Yu.
"If Yu wins the by-election, one thing that is certain is that Chen Shui-bian will not become a `lame duck,' even temporarily. Although it is almost certain who will be the new chairperson, the whole campaign process could demonstrate the DPP's democratic nature to the public," Hsu said.
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
RSS