Former legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) yesterday registered to run in the legislative by-election for Taichung’s second electoral district, after the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Nov. 4 tapped her to be its candidate.
Accompanied by party politicians and supporters, Lin filed the application forms at the Central Election Commission’s (CEC) Taichung office and paid the NT$200,000 deposit to become an official candidate in the Jan. 9 by-election.
Lin launched her election campaign dressed in a white doctor’s coat with a sash bearing her name.
Photo: Chen Chien-chi, Taipei Times
From 2016 to last year, Lin served as a DPP legislator-at-large.
A gynecologist by profession, Lin worked for many years at Chung Shan Medical University Hospital in Taichung.
Yesterday, accompanied by DPP officials and city councilors, Lin was also joined by former Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP) legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟), whose recall triggered the upcoming by-election, and TSP Chairman Chen Yi-chi (陳奕齊) in a show of unity among the pan-green camp.
Addressing supporters, Lin said: “We will win this race so that this Taichung electorate district will have a new political environment.”
“In doing so, we will rouse up people longing for a fresh start in political landscapes across the nation,” she added.
“This race is not for myself, so that I can pursue higher political office, but it is for the DPP and the TSP, as we respond together to fulfill the wishes of the voters in this district, and for all Taiwanese who have expressed the desire to have a fresh start and politics that diverges from the past,” Lin said.
Supporting Lin were DPP Legislators Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純) and Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅), who represent Taichung, as well as former Taichung mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), several DPP Taichung city councilors and representatives of several women’s groups.
Lin Chia-lung, who is also a former minister of transportation and communications, said that he would serve as director for Lin Ching-yi’s campaign.
“As long as it is a clean election, I am confident Lin Ching-yi will win this seat,” he said.
On Sunday, he rejected the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) claim that Lin Ching-yi is “a parachute candidate” with no particular local connections, citing their two decades as colleagues at Chung Shan Medical University Hospital.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury