Independent Taipei City Councilor Chiu Wei-chieh (邱威傑), who is also a YouTuber, yesterday confirmed that he and two fellow YouTubers have applied to the Ministry of the Interior to form a new political party focused on improving the happiness of Taiwanese.
Chiu, also known on YouTube as “Froggy” (呱吉), announced on Facebook on Tuesday that he and Chen Tzu-chien (陳子見), known on YouTube as “Retina” (視網膜), and Chang Chih-chi (張志祺), known as “Shasha77” (志祺七七), applied to form the party and plan to hold a launch event on Thursday next week.
They named their party the “Unstoppable Happiness Party” (歡樂無法黨), a literal translation of a play on words in Chinese.
Photo: CNA
Chiu, 44, said that he has always done things that make him happy, even if it is working overtime, but since becoming a city councilor this year, he said that his life has been surrounded by hatred, malicious intentions and negative emotions.
“In the world of politics, nobody believes being happy should be a priority,” he wrote, adding that as he becomes more socially sophisticated, his original naivete and pureness is fading, so he wants to change Taiwan’s politics by bringing in more factors that address happiness.
Chiu held a news conference confirming the plan, saying that their goal is to bring more happiness to Taiwanese, while raising public awareness on social issues that they care about, including generational justice, marriage equality and housing justice, among others.
“According to the standard procedure, we need at least 100 founding members to form the party, and they must attend the launching event on Nov. 14 to elect the chairperson and officials,” he said.
“Politics is not difficult, it’s about bringing back happiness,” he added.
Chiu said the party was open to working with politicians from other parties who share similar values, and that if Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) wants to join the party, he would be welcome.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS