Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday shrugged off netizens mocking him over a story he told during Sunday’s televised debate about an elderly woman who prompted him to run for the presidency.
“I would like to thank everyone for their concern. I met an elderly woman during a visit to a local temple. Not only her, but many others have also encouraged me to take care of Taiwan, which is why I will do my best to work for the nation,” Chu said.
Chu made the remarks during a visit to Taitung County, in response to media queries on the growing public curiosity about the identity of the woman who Chu said he met during a trip to New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水).
Chu on Sunday said that the woman told him “the gods will not forgive you if you do not run for president,” when Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) questioned his integrity, citing his promise to serve out his term as New Taipei City mayor and not vie for the top office.
Chu’s comments quickly triggered an outpouring of ridicule on the Internet, with netizens saying that they doubt the existence of the woman.
One netizen said that that they were amazed by Chu’s willingness to abandon the entire population of New Taipei City for a single person, in a message they posted on the Professional Technology Temple (PTT), the nation’s largest academic online bulletin board.
“Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) would have never imagined it was an elderly lady that prompted the rescission of her nomination as the KMT’s presidential candidate,” one netizen said.
A Facebook page titled “Tamsui Grandma” was set up on Sunday afternoon, featuring a logo with the slogan, “One Grandma: Grandma is Strength” — a modification of Chu’s campaign slogan: “One Taiwan: Taiwan is Strength.”
The page had attracted nearly 12,000 followers as of press time yesterday.
A Facebook page, called “Taiwan Fugue,” launched a “self-help sticker campaign” providing elderly women who worry about being mistaken as the reason behind Chu’s candidacy with stickers reading: “I did not ask Eric Chu to run for president.”
A cartoonist, who goes by the pseudonym Tsai Chao (菜朝), published a cartoon on Facebook yesterday featuring himself trying to persuade his wife to listen to him and wash their children’s clothes by telling her the order came from “Tamsui Grandma,” only to be punched in the face by his wife.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to