Among the candidates celebrating their local election victories yesterday was a former political heavyweight who staged a successful comeback after his defeat in December's legislative and city mayor elections.
Su Nan-cheng (
Su, 66, was once Kaohsiung City mayor and an adviser to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). He also served two terms as Tainan City mayor from 1977 to 1985 and was the speaker of the National Assembly in 1999.
With such a lengthy resume, however, Su's political career was once regarded by some to have reached an end.
Su stepped down as speaker of the National Assembly and was expelled from his party, the KMT, in 1999 after being accused of violating party orders.
The accusations stemmed from Su's decision to allow assembly deputies to vote a second time during the second reading of the controversial amendment on term extensions.
Su's victory last night was seen as a confidence boost for the former speaker as he bounced back onto the stage where he had once shined.
However, Wu Ko-ching (
The speaker of Hsinchu County council, Huang Huan-chi (
Huang is well known for his alleged involvement in a vote-buying scandal during the campaign for the Dec. 1 elections.
Huang was accused of using the county council's budget for personal use to purchase tea and moon cakes for voters.
He was later released on bail for health reasons.
Shih Chih-ming (施治明), a former Tainan City mayor, was also unsuccessful in his campaign to win a seat on the city council.
Like Huang, Shih was unsuccessful in his campaign for the Dec. 1 election.
Earlier this week, Shih, an independent, was indicted by Tainan City's Prosecutors' Office for alleged corruption during his term as the city's mayor from 1993 to 1997.
* Su Nan-cheng, who was defeated in the Tainan City mayoral election on Dec. 1, bounced back last night as an independent to win a Tainan City council seat.
* Wu Ko-ching of the KMT, fared not so well. Wu failed to secure a third term as a legislator in December and was defeated yesterday in his bid to become Taoyuan County mayor.
* The speaker of Hsinchu County council, Huang Huan-chi, and former Tainan City major Shih Chih-ming also failed in their comeback runs.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
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