The relationship between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) has soured, with the DPP urging pan-green supporters to ditch its erstwhile ally in next week's elections.
The TSU responded by lodging a legal complaint against DPP election campaign chief Yu Shyi-kun and seven pro-independence activists for encouraging voters to cast their second ballot for the DPP rather than the TSU.
Describing the DPP's move as a "dirty trick," TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (
SUING YU
TSU Spokeswoman Chou Mei-li (
The seven are Taiwan Society secretary-general Lo Chih-cheng (
Yu Shyi-kun on Wednesday called on voters to cast their second ballot for the DPP rather than the TSU, saying "a divided pan-green camp risks a landslide defeat in the face of a pan-blue alliance."
Society leaders yesterday said although they recognized the contribution the TSU has made over the years, they questioned whether the party had deviated from the path of Taiwan-centered consciousness after it transformed itself into a "center-left" party.
WASTING BALLOTS
"The pan-green camp cannot afford to be divided," Cheng said. "It is highly unlikely that the TSU will garner more than 5 percent of the second-ballot vote ... I am calling on the people of Taiwan not to waste their ballots on other political parties and vote for the DPP."
Winston Yu encouraged the electorate to vote, as both the legislative elections and the two referendums will be held in conjunction with the polls.
Chang Yeh-shen called on the voters to spurn the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for boycotting the two referendums.
Chang Shyue-yih said their call was aimed at protecting Taiwan, not the DPP.
Chin said that former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), the spiritual leader of the TSU, would go down in history as a sinner if he managed to split the pro-Taiwan forces.
While Chou on Wednesday accused the societies of having become mouthpieces of the DPP, Lo yesterday said that they found Chou's comment "defamatory" and "unacceptable."
"We sincerely hope the Taiwan Solidarity Union will not become a Taiwan Division Union and split the localization force," Lo said.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit