Executive Yuan Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday registered as a candidate in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson election after being nominated by a group of “middle generation” party members.
The group, led by Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), on Thursday put forward Cho’s name, saying that they would accompany him yesterday afternoon to register as a candidate at the DPP’s headquarters in Taipei.
Cho would be competing with former DPP secretary-general Michael You (游盈隆) and former Kaohsiung County deputy commissioner Kuo Tai-ling (郭泰麟) for leadership of the party.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The group that nominated Cho includes Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅), Chiayi County commissioner-elect Weng Chang-liang (翁章梁), former legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), outgoing Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Tainan mayor-elect Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) and Pingtung County Commissioner Pan Men-an (潘孟安).
Cho completed the registration accompanied by some members of the group.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Cho said that the question facing the DPP is not what kind of chairperson it needs, but what kind of ruling party the nation needs.
A dominant party has emerged in Taiwan — it is known as the “Hate the Democratic Progressive Party Party,” Cho said.
He vowed to visit the party’s “haters” and “have a talk” with them about the DPP’s problems, saying that he would show them the party is undergoing changes and would convince them it was true.
Cho said that if elected, he would lead the DPP to become a more honest, pragmatic and down-to-earth party with a mission to serve the public, adding that he would also strive to promote unity within the party.
“The DPP has a promise to Taiwanese to fulfill. Put simply, we must introduce the right policies to give people better lives,” Cho said.
He had told Premier William Lai (賴清德) about his bid for DPP chairman, Cho said, adding that he would focus on the new role if elected and would not double as Executive Yuan secretary-general.
Asked what motivated him to run, Cho turned to look at Cheng and other supporters who were standing behind him and said: “Look at their determined faces. How could I refuse?”
Cho, who has served in several government posts and was a legislator from 1999 to 2004, is seen as a “big brother” of the younger generation, Cheng said.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Nov. 24 resigned as the party’s leader after the DPP suffered heavy losses in the nine-in-one elections.
Since then, there have been calls from within the party for younger leadership.
In the local elections, the DPP won only six of the nation’s 22 mayoral and commissioner seats, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) took 15.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
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
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 —
RSS