Taiwanese Internet celebrity Chung Wei-ting (仲惟鼎), also known as AmoGood (古阿莫), yesterday failed in his bid to become a member of the New Power Party’s (NPP) central decisionmaking committee.
The result has thwarted his plan to run for chairman of the party.
“It is a pity that I cannot contribute to the reform of the party. However, I am still an NPP member and there are still government and party jobs at the local level,” Chung said. “I will continue to oversee the government and work hard for Taiwan.”
Photo: Hu Shun-hsiang, Taipei Times
“I ran in the election for the NPP’s central decisionmaking committee because I want Taiwanese to see and understand the party,” Chung said in a statement, adding that he hopes newly elected committee members make great strides for the party.
Chung, who is known for his irreverent movie reviews, has more than 10 million subscribers on Sina Weibo and 2 million on Bilibili. The two Chinese social media sites have since Feb. 4 blocked him from accessing his accounts after he announced his bid to enter Taiwanese politics.
As being a committee member qualifies an NPP member to run for chairperson, Chung said previously he would run if the party was lacking good leaders.
Prior to the election, Chung said he entered politics because he wanted to make contributions to Taiwanese society, and he joined the NPP because it allows an ordinary party member like him to participate in the election for members of the central decisionmaking committee.
Chung was one of the 29 party members vying for 15 spots on the committee, the NPP said, adding that 827 members voted in the election, representing 75 percent of the membership.
NPP Chairwoman and Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華), former Miaoli commissioner candidate Sung Kuo-ting (宋國鼎), NPP Secretary-General Christy Pai (白卿芬), and legislators Claire Wang (王婉諭) and Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) were elected to the committee.
Sung garnered the highest votes among all 15 members, the NPP said.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
SOVEREIGNTY: The rigs show that Beijing ‘rejects Taiwan’s jurisdiction’ by building in areas where Taipei demands permission to build or alter installations Chinese oil rigs have been sighted just 26 nautical miles (42km), from Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島), posing a threat to Taiwan’s sovereignty if left unchallenged, a brief published by the Jamestown Foundation on Tuesday said. Pratas Island, 444km from Kaohsiung, is northeast of the South China Sea and houses a Taiwanese garrison. The brief, titled “Rigging the Game: PRC Oil Structures Encroach on Taiwan’s Pratas Island” — referring to the People’s Republic of China — analyzed photographs and said that Beijing’s tools to pressure Taiwan now include oil rigs. “Oil rigs now constitute part of Beijing’s
The Taiwan Experience Education Program (TEEP) has funded short-term internships in Taiwan for more than 4,500 young people from more than 40 countries since 2015, with the goal of attracting and retaining international talent, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. Fifty-five colleges launched 514 projects this year, including in fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, medicine and biotechnology, green energy, and sustainability, it said. The program provides research and practical internships in Taiwan for two to six months, and offers cultural exchange and networking opportunities, the ministry said. For example, National Formosa University’s Embedded System and Autopilot Laboratory developed two solar-powered drones in