Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Yesterday morning, Ma first went to Taipei County to promote Wu Yu-sheng (
Ma's last activity, which was originally reserved for independent candidate Lin Cheng-hsiu (
According to KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (
"Ma won't go for him. Running advertisements to attack partners violates the pan-blue's principles," Lin Fong-cheng said to ERA TV News.
As of press time, Ma had not reversed his decision.
Tu Chien-teh (
"Ma has his own judgment, because the voice of party members at basic levels had been passed on to him through local branches," Tu said.
Ma yesterday did his best to recommend KMT candidates, stressing his long political history associating with the party. Ma even played the role of a peacemaker, mediating quarrels among KMT candidates, including Pan Wei-kang (
When Ma carried out street campaign activities with KMT Spokesman Alex Tsai (蔡正元) in Neihu District yesterday afternoon, Ma called for the cooperation of all voters for the party.
"KMT supporters have to work together in the elections. We can't afford to miss any ballots," Ma said.
According to Ma's office, Ma has attended 230 campaign activities since September 10, when he began to assist pan-blue candidates. Among them, 165 events were for 70 KMT candidates throughout the nation, while 37 activities were for 25 PFP candidates. As for four candidates in the pan-blue political spectrum who are either independent or from other small parties, such as New Party, Ma only spared them about 5.6 percent of his time for 12 events.
Ma's assistants stressed yesterday that beginning mid-October, Ma has accepted all invitations from all pan-blue candidates but still put those from KMT and PFP on his top priority.
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
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