Gay and lesbian rights activists yesterday released a list of legislative candidates they consider to be homophobic and urged gay and lesbian voters to boycott them in next Saturday's election.
"There are some things that gay and lesbian voters must keep in mind," Chen Po-chieh (
Thirty candidates across party lines were listed on the boycott list.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Wang Shih-cheng (
"Discrimination has always been the cause of hate crimes in human history. Undoubtedly, Wang should be the most condemned and boycotted legislative candidate of all because of his undisguised insults to gays and lesbians," Chen said.
He called on gays and lesbians to "look beyond green and blue," as "both the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] and the DPP put their party interests above that of minority groups and values of diversity and gender equality," he said.
At the end of the news conference, representatives from several gay and lesbian groups urged voters to throw their support behind the Green Party Taiwan.
"There are certainly lawmakers who pay attention to issues concerning gay and lesbian rights," Chen said. "However, in the current political climate ... those who care about minority groups cannot speak out," and therefore a third party that focuses on social issues must be supported.
Besides Wang, legislative candidates on the boycott list are Alex Fai (
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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