As tomorrow is the deadline for independent presidential candidates to hand over the required 224,000 signatures for the March election, independent presidential candidate Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) yesterday handed over the first batch of signatures to the Central Election Commission (CEC中選會).
Chu Hui-liang (
"Hsu has already collected more than 300,000 signatures," Chu said today they will hand over another 100,000 signatures and give out the rest of the signatures on the last day. Chu called for more signatures so as to avoid overlapping or duplicating signatures with other candidates.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES.
According to election regulations, overlapping signatures are nullified for both sides. If too many signatures overlap it could result in a politician losing his or her candidacy.
The Taiwan Independence Party's candidate Cheng Pang-cheng (
An official of the party said the Cheng-Huang ticket has suffered insufficient resources partly because they were the latest to join the election campaign.
The official said pressure from pro-independence party elders, who have called on support for DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (
While the Cheng camp is worried about insufficient support, an aide to independent presidential candidate James Soong (
The official said they are worried that the exposure of all their signatures may bring trouble to some of their supporters, although they didn't provide any details as to why this was so. The Soong camp yesterday called a meeting to decide how many signatures they should hand over.
In related news, although signature drives are not required for presidential candidates nominated by major parties, the KMT is undertaking a signature drive for its candidate Lien Chan (
"This is a test of mobilization," said KMT spokesman Huang Hwei-chen (
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s