The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) regained control over Yilan County yesterday as Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢) defeated County Commissioner Lu Guo-hua (呂國華) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
The victory in Yilan was particularly sweet for the DPP as it had said winning back its former stronghold would determine the party’s overall success in the midterm elections.
Lin, the chief of Luodong Township (羅東), won with 133,394 votes, or 54.26 percent, with Lu garnering 112,469 votes, or 45.74 percent.
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO,TAIPEI TIMES
In 2005, Lu beat the popular former Yilan county commissioner, Chen Ding-nan (陳定南), garnering 51 percent of the votes. The win brought an end to 24 years of DPP rule in the county.
Media attributed Lin’s success partially to the endorsement delivered by Chen’s wife Chang Chao-yi (張昭義), who appeared at Lin’s rally on Friday. Chang made a symbolic gesture by handing Lin her late husband’s briefcase. Chen died of lung cancer in 2006.
Aware that Lu might lose his bid for re-election, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) paid about a dozen visits to Yilan during the campaign and made a last-minute plea for votes on Friday night. Lu conceded defeat at 7:05pm with Lin leading by about 20,000 votes.
“I just want to thank all our friends who have supported me throughout the election,” Lu said. “We simply have to face the voters’ choice with courage.”
Meanwhile, in Taoyuan County, KMT Legislator John Wu (吳志揚) became the county’s 16th commissioner, but had to survive a valiant challenge from Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) of the DPP.
While Wu won, the DPP greatly improved on its result from four years ago.
Wu secured victory with 396,237 votes, or 52.22 percent, compared with Cheng’s 346,678 votes, or 45.69 percent.
Wu’s predecessor, Eric Chu (朱立倫), secured more than 60 percent of the votes in Taoyuan four years ago, beating his DPP challenger, former TAIYEN Co chairman Cheng Pao-ching (鄭寶清), who garnered about 38 percent of the votes.
Both Wu’s father, former KMT chairman Wu Po-hsiung (吳伯雄), and his grandfather, Wu Hung-lin (吳鴻麟), are former Taoyuan County commissioners.
In Keelung, Mayor Chang Tong-rong (張通榮) was re-elected with 55.11 percent of the ballot, defeating young DPP challenger Lin Yu-chang (林右昌).
Four years ago, the late Keelung mayor Hsu Tsai-li (許財利) won only 41 percent, outnumbering his Taiwan Solidarity Union opponent Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) by about 10 percent. Hsu died of sepsis in 2007. His unfinished term was completed by Chang after a by-election.
The keenly contested election in Yilan and yesterday’s sunny weather motivated many people to return home and vote.
The Taiwan Railway Administration reported that express train tickets to Yilan County were sold out yesterday. Freeway bus operators also said their services to Yilan were fully booked.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS