In the lead up to the November nine-in-one elections, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who doubles as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson, said that she would make regular visits to regional party candidates to show her support.
Tsai, who has been visiting the party’s county and municipal candidates since May, has expressed concerns over Changhua County Commissioner Wei Ming-ku’s (魏明谷) chances for re-election, a DPP official speaking on condition of anonymity said.
Among party candidates seeking re-election are the mayors of Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Chiayi City and Taichung, and the commissioners of Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties.
Aside from Wei, those who have already met with Tsai include Chiayi Mayor Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) and Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍).
Wei’s campaign has not been going well, but the DPP is concerned that its hold on central Taiwan hinges upon his re-election, the official said.
Tsai first met with Wei in May, when she asked him what support he felt he needed from the party and proposed that she would visit Changhua more regularly.
Tsai on Sunday last week also visited Taichung, where she met with Lin, with whom she discussed her concerns about Wei’s campaign, the official said, adding that Tsai asked Lin to lend support to Wei whenever he could.
Tsai has also sent officials to help Twu’s campaign, which is said to be in trouble, the official said.
Factionalism within the pan-blue camp has since helped stabilize Twu’s campaign, the official said, but added that a Twu victory in Chiayi would be a “thrillingly narrow win.”
The DPP has outlined plans to consolidate its nationwide campaign efforts, the first step of which would be cooperation between candidates in Miaoli and Nantou counties.
The party is to support independent Miaoli County commissioner candidate Hsu Ting-chen (徐定禎), who would work with DPP Nantou County commissioner candidate Hung Kuo-hao (洪國浩), the official said.
The party is more confident about the re-election campaigns of Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang (林右昌), Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) and Pingtung County Commissioner Pan Men-an (潘孟安), the official said.
Yunlin County Commissioner Lee Chin-yung’s (李進勇) re-election campaign is slowly stabilizing, but it remains to be seen how former Yunlin County commissioner Chang Jung-wei’s (張榮味) conviction on corruption charges on Wednesday would affect the elections, the official said.
Penghu County Commissioner Chen Kuang-fu’s (陳光復) re-election campaign has suffered from the implementation of pension reforms and he has visited DPP headquarters numerous times to discuss his campaign, the official said, adding that the party has been working on a strategy with Chen.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) hosted a dinner in Taipei last night with key Taiwanese suppliers to celebrate the successful mass production of the company’s new Blackwell AI systems. Speaking to the media earlier yesterday, Huang thanked Nvidia’s Taiwanese partners for their contributions to the company’s ecosystem, while also sharing his plans to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀). In response to rumors that Nvidia will launch a downgraded Hopper H20 chip for China in July, Huang dismissed the reports, saying, “That is not true.” He clarified that there
RSS