The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday announced that former legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), director of the party’s Department of International Affairs, would represent the DPP in the Hualien legislative by-election next month.
The legislative by-elections on Feb. 27 will fill the seats left vacant in Taoyuan, Hualien, Hsinchu and Chiayi counties after the legislators from those districts were elected as county commissioners in last month’s county chief elections.
Hsiao had been rumored to be the DPP’s candidate for Halien County commissioner in last month’s election, but the party later decided to throw its weight behind an independent who came third out of the three candidates.
In addition to Hsiao, the DPP line-up for the by-elections next month includes current Taoyuan County Councilor Huang Jen-chu (黃仁杼) for the legislative spot in that county. Former lawmaker Peng Shao-chin (彭紹瑾) will vie for the Hsinchu County seat and former Chiayi County commissioner Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) hopes to be the next legislator for the southern county.
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) said the four nominees were chosen for their expertise in international affairs, legal knowledge and past political achievements.
The party has also been gearing up for tomorrow’s legislative by-election.
At a rally for Kuo Jung-tsung (郭榮宗), the DPP’s candidate in Taoyuan County’s second district, DPP Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), urged voters to use their ballots to end the practice of vote-buying, which he said was a tactic frequently used by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Su said the Taoyuan County post was left vacant because the KMT’s Liao Cheng-ching (廖正井), who had been elected to the position, was found guilty of vote-buying.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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