The chairmen of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday both traveled to Kaohsiung to campaign for their party candidates in the city's mayoral election.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) denied a report in the Chinese-language United Daily News that the support rate for DPP candidate Chen Chu (陳菊) was catching up with KMT candidate Huang Jun-ying (黃俊英).
"We care about the situation in the Kaohsiung mayoral election very much and currently it's a close battle," Ma said in Kaohsiung before attending the launch ceremony of Huang's campaign headquarters.
PHOTO: CNA
According to the newspaper, a secret poll conducted by the KMT showed that support for Huang has been declining, and that he currently leads Chen by less than 5 percent.
KMT Spokesman Huang Yu-cheng (
"But we are indeed facing a tough battle, and we are taking the situation seriously," he said at KMT headquarters.
PHOTO: CNA
DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun, on the other hand, said that Chen's support rate was increasing, expressed his gratitude for the improvement and urged pan-green supporters to help Chen win the election.
"Right now the discrepancy is only about 3 to 4 percent. We will win the election with some extra effort," he said while campaigning for Chen yesterday and lashing out at Ma for his poor performance as Taipei mayor.
Chen also inaugurated her campaign headquarters yesterday. DPP heavyweights, including Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), all appeared on stage to lend support to Chen's candidacy.
Meanwhile, in Taipei, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Taipei mayoral candidate Clara Chou (周玉蔻) burst into tears when talking about recent pressure from some party members dissatisfied with her attacks on Hsieh.
"I have faced enormous pressure ever since I declared my intention to run. My competitors and those who want me to withdraw from the election have tried every way to force me out," she said at the launch of her campaign headquarters.
While declining to confirm whether TSU members had tried to dissuade her from running, Chou thanked former president Lee Teng-hui (
Attending the ceremony, TSU Chairman Shu Chin-chiang (蘇進強) denied the party was against Chou's candidacy, but added that candidates should not exercise smear campaigns against other contenders.
"The party hopes Chou will focus her campaign on presenting municipal policies," he said.
Chou has attacked Hsieh, accusing him of trying to dissuade her from joining the race for mayor by offering her conditions and condemning his alleged involvement in the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp scandal.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS