POLITICS
Tsai promises punishment
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will hand down severe punishment to members who failed to vote in accordance with its position in Thursday’s Greater Tainan City Council speaker election, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday. Once there is solid evidence that they went against the party line, errant city councilors are to be expelled from the party, Tsai said during a visit to Chiayi County. In the election, the DPP’s Lai Mei-hui (賴美惠) lost to Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), in a 29-26 vote with two abstentions. The DPP holds 29 seats on the 57-member city council, the KMT 16, the Taiwan Solidarity Union one and independents 11. It has been reported that the KMT offered some DPP councilors up to NT$10 million (US$315,000) to vote for Lee. Tsai said the election result is a disgrace to democracy, adding that the party would also submit its findings to judicial authorities if necessary.
POLITICS
Eric Chu to tour nation
The only candidate in the upcoming election for chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), plans to present his platform to party members in 11 cities and counties starting today in New Taipei City. Chu then plans to travel to cities and counties including Greater Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, and Taitung and Hualien counties, as well as either Taipei or Keelung before the election set for Jan. 17, the KMT said in a statement released yesterday. If elected, he is to replace President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who resigned as chairman following the party’s rout in last month’s nine-in-one elections.
ASTRONOMY
Comet Lovejoy set to fly by
Astronomy buffs can celebrate the coming new year with Comet Lovejoy, which is expected to be at its brightest early next month, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said yesterday. Lovejoy, discovered by Australian comet hunter Terry Lovejoy in August, is to reach its closest point to Earth on Jan. 7, about 70.2 million kilometers away, the museum said. It should be easy for people using binoculars to look in the eastern sky after dusk and find the comet’s white, misty form, the museum said. The comet’s apparent magnitude could range between four and five, possibly becoming as bright as the Andromeda Galaxy, the museum said. The magnitude is a measurement of the brightness of a celestial body as seen by an observer on Earth and falls in numerical value the brighter an object becomes.
PUBLICITY
iSee Taiwan plans promos
The iSee Taiwan Foundation, the sponsor of this year’s annual New Year’s fireworks at Taipei 101, said it hopes to continue raising the nation’s global profile through promotional campaigns. It said its iSee Taiwan initiative is to run through March 31 with projects that either help make Taiwan better or draw international attention. Now in its preliminary stage, the initiative plans to accept projects in any form as long as the team behind the submission includes two or more people. Submission evaluation methods are still being hammered out, but the foundation expects to pick 300 projects to support and put online with English and Chinese descriptions. Interested applicants can find out more (in Chinese) at www.iseetaiwan.org/iseetaiwan2015.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
Taiwan and its Pacific ally Tuvalu on Tuesday signed two accords aimed at facilitating bilateral cooperation on labor affairs, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). The governments inked two agreements in Taipei, witnessed by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and visiting Deputy Tuvaluan Prime Minister Panapasi Nelesone, MOFA said in a news release. According to MOFA, the agreements will facilitate cooperation on labor issues and allow the two sides to mutually recognize seafarers’ certificates and related training. Taiwan would also continue to collaborate with Tuvalu across various fields to promote economic prosperity as well as the well-being of their
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
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