Both the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have set central Taiwan as the key battleground in the approaching nine-in-one elections on Nov. 29.
With that in mind, some of the DPP’s candidates in the region, including Greater Taichung mayoral candidate Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Changhua County commissioner candidate Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷) and Nantou County commissioner candidate Lee Wen-chung (李文忠), have seen their campaigns revolving around themes of regional governance and integrated construction.
In addition to attending joint campaign events, the trio have also appeared in a campaign advertisement promoting their plan to build a “common living circle” linking the three administrative regions.
Their cooperation has proven to be effective, putting further pressure on their KMT rivals, a high-ranking DPP member said, citing the candidates’ strong performances in recent opinion polls.
However, the DPP’s latest analysis shows that while Wei leads his main opponent, the KMT’s Lin Tsang-min (林滄敏), in polls, organization and coordination are the latter’s strong suit and that former Taiwan Solidarity Union lawmaker Huang Wen-ling’s (黃文玲) running for Changhua County commissioner could impede Wei’s attempts to draw all the support he can get from the pan-green camp.
As for the Yunlin County race, the DPP’s Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) has lost his lead in opinion polls and now has nearly the same level of support as his KMT rival, Chang Li-shan (張麗善).
The same trend has also been observed in the outlying county of Penghu, where the DPP’s Chen Kuang-fu (陳光復) has also lost the edge over his KMT opponent, Su Kun-hsiung (蘇崑雄), because of the latter’s effective strategic planning.
According to a source with close ties to the higher echelons of the DPP, who requested anonymity, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) came up with the concept of “regional governance” in her Platform for the Coming Decade when she was vying for the presidency in 2012.
“Tsai meant for the concept to address the problems of unequal distribution of government resources as a result of the sudden upgrade of five administrative regions into special municipalities in 2010, as well as the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor,” the source said.
A DPP campaign staffer said the party headquarters proposed the regional governance concept to Lin Chia-lung, Wei and Lee Wen-chung in the latter half of this year and that the trio readily accepted the idea.
“Now that the concept has proven to be a workable strategy, the party has recommended its Yunlin County commissioner candidate Lee Chin-yung, Chiayi City mayor candidate Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) and Chiayi County commissioner candidate Helen Chang (張花冠) to follow suit,” the staff member said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
RSS