With campaigns for next year’s legislative elections in full swing, many “third force” candidates have asked Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) to make an appearance at their campaign events.
Despite having announced that he would neither be recorded nor filmed, and would not endorse any legislative candidates in the run-up to the elections, Ko, an independent, has carried out other forms of collaboration with candidates nominated by small parties.
Ko last night attended a campaign event for New Power Party (NPP) legislative candidate Freddy Lim (林昶佐), during which he sang two classic Taiwanese songs.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Ko late last month met with Social Democratic Party (SDP) legislative candidates and NPP legislative candidate Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸), and is to attend a forum organized by SDP candidate Fan Yun (范雲) this afternoon, during which the two are to discuss politics from a historical perspective.
In other news, Ko on Friday said he is against the the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) because the nation’s geology makes it unfit for developing nuclear energy.
Ko made the remark during a speech at a “pastoral city” event to screen documentaries promoting agriculture and sustainable development.
He said that to live in a pastoral city is not just a lifestyle choice, but also one of value, adding that he pictures Taipei not as a “concrete jungle,” but as a place that is livable for people, which often prompts him to think: “How would you like Taipei to be for future generations?”
“This is not just a slogan. If you constantly ask yourself this question, it will influence your policymaking. If a person thinks in terms of 10 or 20 years, his logic is very different from that of a person who thinks in terms of 100 years,” he said.
Using nuclear energy as an example, he said that he is against the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant becoming operational.
“I am not saying that it is wrong to use nuclear energy, but Taiwan lacks a proper environment for nuclear energy development,” he said.
Comparing the situations in the US and Taiwan, he said that, while in Minnesota, he learned that nuclear power plants there are kept outside a safe range of 200km from the largest city in the state, Minneapolis.
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
The Chinese wife of a Taiwanese, surnamed Liu (劉), who openly advocated for China’s use of force against Taiwan, would be forcibly deported according to the law if she has not left Taiwan by Friday, National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials said yesterday. Liu, an influencer better known by her online channel name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣), obtained permanent residency via marriage to a Taiwanese. She has been reported for allegedly repeatedly espousing pro-unification comments on her YouTube and TikTok channels, including comments supporting China’s unification with Taiwan by force and the Chinese government’s stance that “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.” Liu
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
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