Taiwan Statebuilding Party Legislator Chen Po-wei’s (陳柏惟) bid to avoid being recalled yesterday received a boost from medical professionals led by former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀).
“We have collected more than 100 signatures from medical professionals who endorse Chen,” said Lin, a gynecologist.
“Most of them are based in Taichung or central Taiwan, while some are from other regions,” she said.
Photo courtesy of Chen Po-wei’s service center via CNA
The vote to recall Chen from his constituency — Taichung’s second electoral district — is to be held on Oct. 23.
People at yesterday’s event in the city’s Wurih District (烏日) held signs with slogans such as: “We oppose the revenge recall and support 3Q,” a nickname for Chen.
Other signs read: “Reject vilification — defend values of democracy.”
Lin said that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is attempting to “assassinate Chen’s character.”
“The KMT has distorted the facts and is circulating misinformation to portray Chen as a bad person, painting a highly negative image to mislead voters,” she said.
“The KMT’s smear campaign has perverted the politics of our democratic society,” she said.
Chen is an earnest and hardworking legislator with a 100 percent attendance record at legislative sessions and committee meetings, Lin said, adding that his office has handled more than 2,300 requests from members of the public over the past two years.
Chen broke down in tears while speaking at the event.
Chien Chen-yu (錢震宇) — a spokesman for Sean Lien (連勝文), who is vice chairman of the KMT-affiliated National Policy Foundation — on Friday accused Chen of financial impropriety.
Chen owns a property in Kaohsiung and there has been a “big surge” in his savings, which have increased to NT$4.41 million (US$157,242) over the past year, Chien said.
Chen said that most of his savings come from election subsidies, which are paid to legislative candidates who garner a certain share of the votes in their district, as well as from a former job in the movie production sector.
“I am in my mid-30s. Having this much savings and owning property is not unusual at my age,” he said.
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