Veteran entertainer and senior Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Yu Tien (余天) yesterday apologized for stirring controversy within the party when he criticized President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and party leadership for allowing another candidate to compete with his daughter for a Taipei councilor seat.
Yu’s daughter, Yu Shiao-ping (余筱萍), has announced her intention to run for Taipei’s Zhongzheng (中正) and Wanhua (萬華) district seat. She will be competing with former DPP spokeswoman Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) for the party’s nomination in the March primary.
During a DPP Central Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday, Yu Tien reportedly lambasted top party officials, including Tsai, for fielding a strong candidate against his daughter without prior negotiations, a party source said.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
He reportedly asked Tsai if she personally endorsed Wu’s bid, and if any DPP faction was involved in targeting him.
The DPP knew as early as April last year that Yu Shiao-ping planned to run in this constituency, so the party could have averted the competition between his daughter and Wu by fielding Wu in another constituency, he said.
Tsai did not react to Yu Tien’s questions.
DPP secretary-general Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) told Yu Tien that the party did not “appoint” Wu to run in the constituency, and that it had no right to prevent its members from running for public office.
Yu Tien temporarily left the meeting after a short confrontation with Hung.
Media reports of his outburst drew criticism, with politicians and netizens accusing him of seeking to forestall fair competition.
Yu Tien then issued a statement apologizing to the party’s supporters and Tsai for causing controversy because of “personal and emotional reasons.”
“I will act more discreetly and bolster party solidarity to regain supporters’ confidence [in the DPP],” he said.
Wu is considered a strong candidate due to her fresh image, and as a first-time candidate, she would be entitled to a 10 percent bonus in primary polling results, according to a new DPP nomination policy announced last year.
“It is out of the question that the DPP would give any candidate any resources, because the DPP has to stay neutral during the primaries,” Wu said, disputing the allegation that the party favored her bid.
“All DPP members can register for the primary. The nomination will be decided through a telephone poll. There is no issue of ‘appointment,’” Wu said.
The Wednesday episode showed Yu Tien’s love for his daughter, and his anger was understandable, Wu added.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by