The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Kaohsiung mayoral campaigns yesterday announced star-studded rallies for today, the last day before polls open for the nine-in-one elections.
The rallies are likely to put hundreds of thousands on the streets and the city’s metropolitan railway lines, as the DPP and the KMT said they expect about 200,000 and more than 120,000 people respectively to attend.
DPP Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) is to host the penultimate campaign rally this afternoon at a vacant lot by the city’s MRT West Fongshan Station, DPP campaign support unit coordinator Chen Chi-yu (陳啟昱) said.
Photo: CNA
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Premier William Lai (賴清德) and Presidential Office Secretary-General and former Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) are to stump for the candidate, he said.
Musical performances are to be held from 6pm to 9pm, including by Hoklo pop singer Chan Ya-wen (詹雅雯), who has accused supporters of KMT candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of cyberbullying, and by Fire Ex (滅火器), a punk group affiliated with the Sunflower movement.
DPP New Taipei City mayoral candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) is to appear at a teleconference at 9:20pm at the rally, Chen Chi-yu said.
Lai and Chen Chu are to join Chen Chi-mai after canvassing the city with campaign workers, while Tsai is to join a prayer for blessings and good fortune at 5pm, although Tsai’s schedule demands her presence elsewhere for the rest of the evening, he said.
Meanwhile, Han’s campaign office said it is to hold a rally at 7pm at the Taiwan Sugar Logistics Park near the MRT Kaisyuan Station.
Between 200 and 300 people, including women, are to show up after shaving their heads in a show of support for Han, who is bald, the office said.
Folk singer Yvonne Jeng (鄭怡), pop singer Chen Chin-yi (鄭進一) and puppet master Huang Chun-hsiung (黃俊雄) are scheduled to perform at the event, organizer Tsao Heng-jung (曹桓榮) said.
While political commentators and businesspeople are to endorse Han at the rally, no politicians have been asked to stump for the candidate, he said, adding that the decision highlights the importance of ordinary people.
The campaign expects more people to attend today’s rally than the 120,000 from the previous event in Fongshan District (鳳山) on Saturday last week, adding that it is to prepare 30,000 lawn chairs.
Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp public relations director Wang Po-yen (王柏雁) said that the Kaohsiung Police Department is to assist transportation security officers in keeping order at Formosa Boulevard Station, a transit point for both events.
A train is to depart every four minutes during peak hours and additional trains are to be held in reserve, he said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
RSS