Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻) yesterday said that she would not contest the legislative by-election in Miaoli in February next year and praised former Sunflower movement student leader Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷) for his decision to join the race, where non-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidates normally face a tough battle.
Following Chen’s announcement of his intention to run as an independent candidate in the by-election, the DPP’s office in Miaoli and Wu’s campaign team separately voiced objections to the DPP’s possible cooperation with the student activist.
Wu, who ran as DPP candidate for Miaoli County commissioner in the Nov. 29 election, but lost, apologized for the emotional response from her campaign team, which held a press conference on Monday saying that Chen is not Taipei mayor-elect Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and calling the headquarters’ move to yield the candidacy to Chen “despicable.”
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Wu said the team only wanted local opinions to be heard and hoped the party center would see their efforts at the local level, adding that she would support anyone the DPP decides to.
At the press conference, Wu also showed a photograph from the Sunflower movement’s occupation of the Legislative Yuan’s main chamber in March and April, in which she, one of the DPP lawmakers who quickly assumed the role of guarding the chamber from the police, is seen pulling Chen away from the police.
“Chen is the pride of the Miaoli people; we are both fighting for Miaoli,” said Wu, adding that she did not regret having pulled Chen from the police simply because they were now in competition.
Photo: CNA
Separately, Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), the convener of the DPP’s election response measure committee, said he would visit Miaoli with committee members to gather local opinions on the candidates. The DPP’s candidate is to be decided on Wednesday next week, either by the party on its own, or in cooperation with civic groups.
Meanwhile, in Miaoli, Chen announced that his campaign team is in place in the county and would start consulting local elders this week and holding campaign events next week.
The team also plans to visit Taipei and Greater Kaohsiung to invite young people who have left Miaoli for work or study to return home to volunteer and vote for change, he said.
Chen said he would welcome Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) of the KMT to compete in the by-election, calling on the KMT to speed up its candidate-fielding process so its selection can come under the electorate’s scrutiny.
Chen once hurled a shoe at Liu in protest over Liu’s government’s seizure and demolition of residents’ houses for a city development project, which Chen said was really a cover for the local government’s land speculation.
Chen was later charged and fined for throwing the shoe.
Chen called the legislative by-election “a make-up exam for the KMT after its defeat,” saying that the KMT’s candidate could be a reflection of the extent of so-called party reform that has been advocated by New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who is seeking the KMT chairmanship.
Chen thanked Wu for her withdrawal and said he would run as an independent instead of becoming a DPP member.
He said that was not out of political calculation, but a decision made out of his opposition to the KMT, along with his doubts about the DPP’s own reforms.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat