Academia Sinica research fellow Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), who had been considering a legislative bid on the New Power Party ticket, yesterday denied claims by New Taipei City Councilor Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that Huang would run for the legislative seat in that city’s Sijhih District (汐止).
“I have never said that I would join the [legislative] race,” Huang said on Facebook. “I will not seek to run in Sijhih and I will do my best to help opposition candidates — including Shen — to defeat [Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)] Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華), so that there can be a good, local lawmaker representing the constituency.”
Huang posted the message in the afternoon after Shen said on Facebook that Huang was “finally going to make his splendid debut” in a legislative election.
Shen said that while he did not feel comfortable with the DPP’s decision not to include Sijhih in its list of constituencies to contest in next year’s legislative elections, he admired what Huang did during Sunflower movement last year and would support him if he decides to run.
“I still have two things to worry about,” Shen said. “First, are local DPP members feeling depressed about being abandoned by their party, and second, are voters upset over an ‘airborne’ candidate who does not know what people want?”
However, Shen said that he has been working hard in Sijhih for 18 years and hinted that Huang might not win the seat if he runs.
Shen called on the DPP’s Campaign Strategy Committee, as well as former premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃)— who is in charge of the party’s campaign in New Taipei City — to be responsible if “the worst-case scenario” arises.
“Maybe everyone will be rejoicing over a victory for [DPP Chairperson] Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), so it would not seem important whether we lose one or two seats in the legislature or win more than 50 percent of the seats,” Shen said. “If we have a regrettable result [in the legislative elections], you will be celebrating a rotation of power, while I will be facing bitter fruit on my own in the dark.”
However, DPP spokesperson Wang Min-sheng (王閔生) said that the Central Executive Committee has decided not to nominate candidates in 11 constituencies, with Sijhih being one of them.
“We will continue to negotiate with the utmost sincerity with the third political force, and I believe our channels of communication with our party members remains smooth,” Wang said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
A pro-Russia hacker group has launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Taiwanese government in retaliation for President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments suggesting that China should have a territorial dispute with Russia, an information security company said today. The hacker group, NoName057, recently launched an HTTPs flood attack called “DDoSia” targeting Taiwanese government and financial units, Radware told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). Local tax bureaus in New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were mentioned by the hackers. Only the Hsinchu Local Tax Bureau site appeared to be down earlier in the day, but was back
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