The defeat of each Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) mayoral and commissioner candidate endorsed by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) in Saturday’s nine-in-one elections has been widely interpreted by netizens as a rejection by voters of the government’s lean toward China.
Gou campaigned for KMT Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文), Greater Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), Yunlin County commissioner candidate Chang Li-shan (張麗善) and Greater Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興).
The business tycoon pledged on Monday last week to increase his investment in Taichung if Hu were elected for a fourth term. He also announced a plan earlier in the month to spend NT$80 billion (US$2.67 billion) to build a low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) display factory in Kaohsiung as part of his effort to drum up support for Yang.
However, Gou’s oft-played “economic card” seemed to have lost its appeal, as the quartet were all soundly beaten by their opponents.
Lien lost to independent Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) by more than 250,000 votes, Hu fell to the Democratic Progressive Party’s Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) by nearly 210,000 votes, and Chang and Yang lost their campaigns by 57,000 and 540,000 votes respectively.
Commenting on the phenomenon, Taiwanese writer Ping Lu (平路) said since Gou is regarded as a “spokesman” for Beijing, if his endorsement had benefited the candidates concerned it would imply Taiwanese succumbed easily to intimidation and economic inducement.
“Hopefully, Gou’s backfiring endorsements will prompt Beijing to learn to respect the nation’s democracy,” she said.
Wealth publishing group chairman Hsieh Chin-ho (謝金河) yesterday posted on Facebook that the four candidates’ failure in the elections suggests that the economics card so frequently played by businesspeople who have made significant profits in China is no longer working.
“Gou might be the biggest loser of Saturday’s elections,” Hsieh said.
Gou’s tactic of threatening voters had already raised concerns and triggered criticism prior to the elections, with critics saying: “Being rich does not give Terry Gou the right to dictate to voters.”
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
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
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
RSS