In the lead-up to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) primary, opinion surveys are showing an increase in support for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), while presidential hopeful William Lai (賴清德) has received enthusiastic encouragement from Taiwanese residents in Japan and Japanese friends.
“The government has made good progress [since last year’s nine-in-one elections], and we are responding to and dealing with problems much quicker,” Tsai said yesterday.
Opinion polls show that the public has recognized the administration’s progress, she said.
Photo: Lin Tsuei-yi, Taipei Times
Asked whether telephone surveys should be used as the primary polling method, Tsai said that she would respect the decision made by the party through its internal democratic mechanism.
Meanwhile, Lai was yesterday invited by the Taiwanese Association in Japan to give a keynote speech at the Hotel Metropolitan Tokyo Ikebukuro.
Organizers said that support shown at the event exceeded their expectations.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
More than 500 Taiwanese and Japanese crowded into the Tokyo venue, where Lai presented his talk titled “Taiwan and Japan facing common challenges and opportunities.”
People at the event held a banner reading: “William Lai 2020 Taiwan President,” while shouting: “William Lai will win the election.”
After his speech, Taiwanese groups presented a Daruma doll to Lai.
Lai painted the doll’s left pupil, in a traditional gesture to receive good fortune and success.
Alice King (金美齡), a prominent Taiwanese independence advocate who lives in Japan, after the speech raised Lai’s hand in a show of support.
During his four days in Japan, Lai also spoke with Japanese legislators, and on Friday met with three former Japanese prime ministers: Toshiki Kaifu, Yoshiro Mori and Yoshihiko Noda.
“It is a rare opportunity for me to visit Japan. I hope to talk with friends here about how we can enhance the relationship between Taiwan and Japan to face common challenges together,” Lai said.
“Many of my Japanese friends, despite the inconvenient time of my visit, and the currently sensitive nature of Taiwan’s political status, still came to meet me and gave me advice and ideas,” Lai added.
Lai was slated to arrive in Kaohsiung late last night.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS