The “Han wave,” or the wave of support for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) is being hyped by certain media outlets and Internet platforms, and should eventually pass, Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) said yesterday.
Support for Han’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rival, Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), has been rising, said Chen Chu, who served as Kaohsiung mayor for 12 years before resigning in April to join President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration.
What voters want is a candidate with knowledge about running a city and their plans for the future, she said as she campaigned for Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and DPP city councilor candidates in Taichung’s Shengang District (神岡), the city’s fifth electoral district.
Photo: Chiang Chih-hsiung, Taipei Times
Kaohsiung’s residents are likely to approve of a candidate who understands Kaohsiung the way Chen Chi-mai does, she said.
Kaohsiung has long been the most important base in the nation for Taiwan’s democracy movement and she has faith in it, she said
As for Lin, who is seeking re-election, Chen Chu said she hoped that Taichung residents would recognize his hard work, professionalism and achievements as mayor.
Asked by reporters whether the decision by Lin’s main rival, KMT Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), on Tuesday to resign her legislative seat would affect the race, Chen Chu said resignations have been used before as a campaign tactic.
While she respects Lu’s decision, it would have a limited effect on the election, she added.
Lin said he appreciated Chen Chu’s support and endorsement as she gives people a sense of warmth and reliability.
Taichung is improving, and many of the changes that are being made in the city can already be seen, he said.
There has been a lot of negative campaigning in this year’s elections, including personal attacks on Chen Chu and smear campaigns, he said.
He sympathizes with those who have been the target of negative campaigns, and looks forward to society having more positive energy, he added.
Lu, who said her resignation was a way to demonstrate her determination to win, was the fourth lawmaker to resign to focus on the elections, following the DPP’s Pasuya Yau (姚文智), who is running for Taipei mayor; Chang Li-shan (張麗善), the KMT’s candidate for Yunlin County commissioner, and Chen Chi-mai.
Calling the Taichung election a must-win race, Lu said she has promised to free the city from air pollution, low wages and economic stagnation if elected.
“It is a very big responsibility. I must win,” she said.
Although the posts from which Chang and Chen Chi-mai resigned were legislator-at-large seats, which can be filled by their respective parties, the seats vacated by Yao and Lu must be filled through by-elections, as there is more than a year before their terms are due to expire on Jan. 31, 2020.
According to the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), legislative by-elections must be held within three months of a lawmaker resigning.
Chen Chu also visited Yilan County yesterday to stump for the DPP’s candidates for commissioner and county council.
Additional reporting by CNA
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
NUMBERs IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
RSS