The mayoral election campaign in Taichung centered on allegations of abuse of power and problems with air pollution in its closing days, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) accused the mayor of overstepping the boundary between government and politicking.
Tsai said his campaign team had received complaints from borough wardens and neighborhood wardens that they had received an administrative order from the city government to bring a quota of local residents to tonight’s campaign event for Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
“This is typical of Lu violating election regulations, and it is underhanded to apply political pressure to bolster attendance at her event. It is contrary to her claim of running a clean campaign, while she and her camp engage in illegitimate ploys to deny our campaigning activities,” Tsai said on Wednesday.
Photo: CNA
“My campaign team has encountered many obstacles from the city government. Several prominent figures who set up support groups were harassed to not back me,” Tsai said, adding that Lu’s officials monitored companies he had contracted to work on his campaign.
The borough and neighborhood wardens told Tsai’s campaign that they objected to the order, and that local residents should not be pressured to attend political rallies or endorse candidates, Tsai said.
The city government said in a statement that the wardens seem to have misunderstood communication from officials, and there was no such administrative order.
“The Taichung City Government always has maintained neutrality in local election campaigns. We did not issue an order to require wardens to bring residents to the election rally on Friday night. We ask those persons not to disseminate such erroneous information, as doing so breaches election statues,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, Tsai and his staff addressed Taichung’s air pollution by posting photographs of the city enveloped in smog, which they said were taken over the weekend and on other recent days.
Lu has reneged on her election promise from four years ago to improve the air quality, Tsai said, adding that Lu criticized then-Taichung mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) of the DPP over the issue.
“With Lu in charge, Taichung’s air will be as clean as that in Guguan (谷關),” Lu said during her campaign at the time, referring to a mountain resort destination.
Tsai said his eyes were sore while campaigning in Taichung’s streets.
Lu said in response that Taichung’s air quality has improved during her term and that city data do not support the claim.
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