Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown — one of Taiwan’s best friends on Capitol Hill — might be offered a place on the US Democratic presidential ticket if former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton wins the party’s nomination as expected.
Two US TV networks and highly respected political newspaper The Hill have all named 63-year-old Brown as being under consideration to be Clinton’s vice presidential running mate.
A founding member of the Taiwan Caucus and an enthusiastic supporter of nearly all pro-Taiwan issues, Brown could become a major ally in the White House.
The Hill pointed out that Clinton is struggling to attract white working-class voters and Brown could be a huge help.
“I put Sherrod Brown at the front of the line as a potential running mate for Hillary,” one National Broadcasting Corp commentator said.
Brown is playing down the prospect, saying that he loves working for the people of Ohio, but that has done little to dampen speculation.
US Republican front-runner Donald Trump is winning the support of huge numbers of white working-class voters, not only from his own party, but also from independents and moderate Democrats.
Brown’s strong stand on creating manufacturing jobs — particularly in northern industrial states — and his push for a higher minimum wage might go far in countering Trump’s appeal should Trump win the Republican nomination.
A few years ago, Brown said that he was “dreaming of the day” when US policy would support one China and one Taiwan.
“The miracle of Taiwan is something that the people have earned and it is up to us to help them keep it,” he said.
On another occasion, Brown said: “I urge the international community in general, and the US in particular, to actively assist Taiwan in exercising its universal right to self-determination by recognizing Taiwan’s independent status and by pressing for its admission into various international organizations as a full participant.”
Coen Blaauw, executive director of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, one of the most active Taiwanese-US groups in Washington, said: “Sherrod Brown is a great friend of Taiwan. He is always on the side of the underdog, fighting for democracy.”
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
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