While campaigning for re-election yesterday, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that China has been spreading disinformation in an attempt to sway voters, and called on all pro-Taiwan forces to unite for the elections on Jan. 11.
“It is nearly 70 days until election day, and China has increased its coercion tactics... It has been doing so through a combination of military threats, disinformation and propaganda, infiltration, and other methods,” Tsai said in Taipei at the launch of a group of supporters comprised of dental professional associations.
“China has been producing fake news and disseminating rumors to deceive and mislead Taiwanese,” she said: “This misinformation and fake news is destroying our democracy, which is Taiwan’s most important asset.”
Photo: CNA
“When receiving fake news, I urge everyone not to pass it on to other people,” she said.
Tsai was accompanied by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), who is a dentist by profession, and Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), also a dentist and a former Taiwan Dental Association chairman, as well as several DPP lawmakers and candidates hoping to win a seat in the legislative election on Jan. 11.
“For this election, all pro-Taiwan forces must rally together to seize victory. All groups must unite ... no matter if they support the Republic of China or Taiwan,” Tsai said.
She attended events around Taipei throughout the day, including a gathering of companies from the green energy industry that support her re-election, another gathering hosted by the national associations of engineers, and an event organized by the leaders of Kiwanis International chapters from across the nation.
Tsai also headed to Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華) to visit a temple and stumped for Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐), formerly of the New Power Party, who is running for re-election as an independent.
Taiwan is on the front line in the fight for democracy, as it faces a military threat from China and propaganda warfare every day, Tsai said.
“The whole world is watching this election, to see what Taiwanese will decide. So everyone must vote to share the nation’s collective will and values with the world,” she said. “We must not send the wrong message to the international community.”
DOING ENOUGH? The HPA budgets NT$1.3 billion to prevent the health hazards of tobacco, but has no separate budget to fight teen drinking, a doctor said The government should step up alcohol education and prevention efforts, and allocate more of the budget to it, doctors said on Friday, citing the high consumption of alcohol among Taiwanese adolescents. One out of four 12-to-17-year-olds has consumed alcohol, said Yen Tsung-hai (顏宗海), director of Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital’s Department of Clinical Toxicology. The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) budgets NT$1.3 billion (US$43.9 million) annually to prevent the health hazards of tobacco, but it has not allocated a separate budget for preventing teenage drinking or excessive alcohol use, Yen said. “There is no so-called ‘safe drinking level’ for minors,” because any amount consumed
The Fancy Frontier manga and anime expo held in Taipei over the weekend has sparked controversy, after a participant allegedly contravened the Act on Offenses Against Sexual Morality (妨害風化罪) by publicly exposing her private parts during a photo shoot. The two-day event opened at the Expo Dome at the Taipei Expo Park on Saturday, attracting numerous comic and anime creators, cosplayers, photographers and fans. Allegedly, a female cosplayer who was not wearing any underwear lifted up her skirt and revealed her private parts at an outdoor photography area near the venue. Event organizers said yesterday that to prevent indecent exposure, they have since
YOUNGEST PATIENT: Cases of botulism have been only sporadically reported over the past few years, with two in 2015, six in 2016 and none in the past three years The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the nation’s first case of infant botulism this year, a four-month-old boy in northern Taiwan, as well as five new cases of Japanese encephalitis confirmed last week. The boy was introduced to homemade solid food in the middle of last month, but began to experience constipation and loss of appetite on June 23, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said, adding that he was taken to the hospital when he developed a fever and shortness of breath on June 25. In the hospital, the boy also experienced a rapid heartbeat, limb
The National Taiwan Museum’s Railway Department Park in Taipei is to open to the public today. The park in Datong District (大同) near the North Gate (北門, Beimen) is one of the museum’s four branches. During the Japanese colonial era, the site housed the railway department of the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan’s Bureau of Transportation. After World War II, it served as the headquarters for the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) for several decades. In 2007, it was listed as a national monument under the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法). At an opening ceremony yesterday, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung
RSS