Amid deafening firecrackers and blaring slogans, the two leading Taipei mayoral candidates visited the districts that are not traditionally considered their own party strongholds yesterday.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) of the Chinese Nationlist Party (KMT) canvassed the streets of Shilin (士林) and Beitou (北投) districts, shaking hands with vendors at Ziqiang Market in Beitou after praying to be re-elected at a temple in Shilin.
“Each district is crucial for us at the final stage of the campaign. City councilors and party legislators will also help visit local voters around the city. We will shake hands with as many voters as we can and seek their support,” Hau said at the market.
Asked about his strategy for the last two days, Hau said he would seek to consolidate support bases and urge people to vote, as voter turnout will be a key factor.
In the mayoral election four years ago, overall voter turnout was 64.52 percent. Hau received 53.81 percent of the vote, while the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) got 40.89 percent.
The KMT is hoping to raise voter turnout to more than 70 percent. Facing a tight battle, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who also serves as KMT chairman, has been campaigning for Hau every day since Friday, accompanying the mayor on visits throughout the city.
DPP candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) visited markets in Songshan District (松山) to urge voters to go to the polls. Su said he would continue to stress his theme, “Let Taipei surpass Taipei,” which was aimed at abandoning ideologically charged strategies.
Su has tried to attract younger voters by holding concerts.
“Some politicians and political parties don’t understand that voters are calling for a change and they are still running campaigns with outdated strategies,” he said.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “[we] appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
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