The New Party yesterday said that plans to launch a recall vote campaign against Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP) Legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) with the slogan “Let’s Fire 3Q,” referring to Chen’s nickname “3Q.”
Chinese-language media described the move as a “revenge recall” following Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) loss in the recall election against him on Saturday last week.
Han, the first Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member to win the Kaohsiung post since 1994, lost the recall by a vote of 939,090 to 25,051, making him the first mayor of a special municipality ever to be recalled.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
New Party spokesman Wang Ping-chung (王炳忠) told a news conference in Taipei said the party was targeting Chen — who was born in Kaoshiung, but represents Taichung’s second constituency — as he is a “bumbling buffoon who lacks the needed professional knowledge.”
During a meeting of the legislature’s National Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee on March 9, Chen said China’s Taiwan Affairs Office was an agency of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) United Front Work Department, Wang said.
The phrases, “kong kiang” (恐鏘), which in Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese) means “touched in the head,” and “pu long gong” (噗嚨共), which means “foolish” could describe Chen’s performance, he said.
Photo: CNA
The Central Election Commission, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice have demonstrated that it is acceptable to launch a recall campaign two months after an official is sworn into the job, Wang said.
Citizen Mowing Action (公民割草行動) and others launched their recall bid against Han two months after his inauguration, held protests seven months into his term and delivered the required signatures for a recall vote after Han’s first full year in office, Wang said.
The New Party would seek to duplicate that process, and would work with any group that would like to recall pan-green politicians, he said.
A recall campaign against Chen would only require 2,000 signatures in the first stage and 20,000 in the second stage, as his constituency had 290,000 eligible voters, Wang added.
If 70,000 out of the 100,000 voters who voted against Chen on Jan. 11 voted to recall him, a recall election would succeed, Wang said.
New Party member Lin Ming-cheng (林明正), called on the KMT to “man up” and initiate recalls for 10 pan-green legislators for supporting the recall campaign against Han.
Chen told reporters in Taichung that he was not concerned about the move, and considered it a milestone of his career that politicians “raised by the CCP” wanted to recall him.
The legislator said he doubted that the “rudderless” New Party campaign would take off.
The KMT should not march to the New Party’s beat, Chen said, adding that he would do his job, both as a Taiwanese and a lawmaker.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to