Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Shih-cheng (王世堅) yesterday carried out his promise to jump into the sea, taking the plunge at Chienshuiwan (淺水灣), Sanchih Township (三芝), Taipei County.
Wang has been hounded by the media over the last two weeks following the legislative elections after he promised to jump into the sea if all eight of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) candidates in Taipei City won.
"I am a Taiwanese who sticks to his promises. This is all about me, so I would not encourage my supporters to accompany me in doing this," Wang said.
SUPPORTERS
Wang, accompanied by 280 supporters, arrived at Chienshuiwan yesterday morning.
Along with an aide, he donned a wet suit and rode a jet ski about 100m offshore.
At 12:20pm, he jumped into the water and swam back.
"I am still alive. But jumping into the sea in weather like this was no fun at all," he said.
SECRECY
As Wang had refused to confirm the location of his jump before the event, there were no Coast Guard, police or rescue teams present.
Wang said that he had carried out his promise because he hoped to establish a precedent for other politicians and let them know how important it was for politicians to keep their promises.
"Here I am. I did what I promised," he said after completing the jump.
The Central Weather Bureau said the water temperature at lunchtime in Sanchih yesterday was 16oC.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
RSS