One day after leaving the Taiwan Statebuilding Party, former legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) joined the campaign team of Legislative Deputy Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) in his bid to become Taichung City mayor.
Chen has agreed to become a campaign office director and spokesman for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate, Tsai said yesterday.
“We are building a strong fighting team for the campaign, and Mr Chen will play a key role,” Tsai said.
Photo: CNA
Chen and other DPP members are slated to individually lead campaigns in separate districts, along with planning and assisting in events and activities in other parts of the city, Tsai said.
“They will help me win this election,” he said.
The DPP announced Tsai’s nomination in April. His family is from Taichung’s Cingshuei District (清水), and he has won three straight legislative elections since 2012.
Tsai said that incumbent Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) “is not suitable for a second term. She has not done a good job for the city.”
“I can do much better than Lu. The people of Taichung want change,” he added.
Along with his role as deputy speaker in the legislature, Tsai is also the commissioner of Taiwan’s professional baseball league.
He has been credited for the league’s success in attaining a long-standing goal of acquiring a sixth team, which is to be based in Kaohsiung.
Chen and Tsai share a love of the game. Chen played baseball at school and on community teams, and has done some coaching. In September last year, when Chen was still a legislator, he and Tsai visited Taichung high schools together to donate balls, gloves and other baseball equipment.
Taichung voters recalled Chen in October last year, making him the first legislator in Taiwan’s history to lose a recall initiative.
Chen quit his former party on Friday. Some people with knowledge of the matter said that Chen reportedly disagreed with party executives on certain issues, while others said his perceived status as a party “star” caused some friction.
A former Kaohsiung resident, Chen in 2018 joined the Taiwan Statebuilding Party, which advocates for Taiwanese independence. Previously he had worked in the film and entertainment industries.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu, front, grabs the pennant in a dragon boat race hosted by Qu Yuan Temple in the Shuanghsi River in Taipei’s Beitou District yesterday.