Cabinet Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) was yesterday elected Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman in a two-way race, DPP Acting Chairman Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said.
Lin made the announcement at 6:40pm at a news conference at the DPP headquarters in Taipei, saying that Cho would be sworn in on Wednesday.
The by-election was held to fill the vacancy left by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) after she resigned as party chairperson on Nov. 24 to take responsibility for the DPP’s losses in the local elections.
Photo: CNA
The other candidate was Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation chairman Michael You (游盈隆).
Voting took place from 9am to 5pm, with about 200,000 party members eligible to cast ballots at 117 polling stations nationwide.
A total of 34,230 votes were cast, representing a turnout of 16.9 percent, the party said.
Cho garnered 24,699 votes, or 72.6 percent of the total votes cast, while You received 9,323 votes, or 27.4 percent, it added.
Cho, who served in several government posts and was a lawmaker from 1999 to 2004, was backed by a group of mayors, county commissioners and legislators comprised mostly of middle-aged party members.
You, who served as the deputy head of the Mainland Affairs Council and secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation during former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) time in office from 2000 to 2008, was mainly backed by a group opposed to Tsai.
Cho is considered to be a protege of Tsai and his position on various issues are expected to be closely aligned with the president’s.
His term is to end on May 19 next year.
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two