Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
While urging the government to focus its efforts on taking care of public livelihood, Ma promised to work on improving the domestic economy and to push for social harmony if elected as president.
"More than 23,00 people commit suicide every year, but the government only cares about tearing down the walls surrounding CKS hall," Ma said while attending a ceremony to celebrate the founding of his group of supporters in Jhonghe City (
As the group vowed to spare no effort in helping Ma win the elections next year, Ma, who declared his candidacy early last month, pledged to demonstrate his determination in pursuing the presidency and seeking a solution to the nation's plight.
"People ask me what's on my mind as I pursue the presidency and when they cheer me on. I am thinking of how to save Taiwan from poverty," Ma said.
While acknowledging that his recent indictment on corruption charges was a setback, Ma expressed confidence that the KMT would win in the race next year.
"The setbacks and humiliations I've faced in the last six months were more than what I've encountered in my entire life. But I am not afraid. Ma Ying-jeou will not be defeated," he added.
Jhonghe City was the first stop of Ma's nationwide presidential campaign tour to attract grassroots support.
In addition to forming grassroots support groups around the country, Ma is lining up staff for a presidential campaign office. Most of the staff from his stint as KMT chairman and some from his tenure as Taipei mayor, including former deputy mayor King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) and former deputy director of the KMT's Organization and Development Committee Chang Wang-hao (張王浩), have signed on.
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