Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) said yesterday that former president Lee Teng-hsui (
"We visited former president Lee [on Friday]. He said Hsieh is bound to win and asked the alumni of the Lee Teng-hui School to put their efforts into getting Hsieh elected," said Twu, who is also the executive director of the alumni association of the political academy founded by Lee.
The press conference was held to announce the group's support for Hsieh.
"Lee was very much in favor of our coming out to support Hsieh," Twu said.
Lee has yet to come forward in person and say which of the two candidates he favors.
However, in an interview with Japanese writer Yusuke Fukada, which was published in the current issue of a Japanese monthly, Lee said that Taiwan's democracy would be set back 20 years if Hsieh lost the election.
However, if Hsieh manages to rouse himself and catch up with Ma, the old forces of the two parties would perish and be replaced by new blood, Lee was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Thinktank chairman Chen Po-chih (
"Only when two countries have similar economic status will free movement of production factors not hurt public interest," he said. "In the case of Taiwan and China, a free flow of labor in a common market will turn Taiwan into a refugee camp."
Chen said Chinese labor would be allowed to enter the country about three years after a common market is set up, in accordance with international practices, rebutting the promise made by Ma that he would never open up Taiwan to Chinese workers if elected.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
IDENTITY SHIFT: Asked to choose to identify as either Taiwanese or Chinese, 83.3 percent of respondents chose Taiwanese, while 8.4 percent chose Chinese An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, 71.5 percent, think that Taiwan should compete in international competitions under the name “Taiwan,” a Taiwan Brain Trust survey published yesterday showed. Referring to Taiwan’s victory last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12, the survey results showed that 89.1 percent of respondents said that Taiwan’s exceptional performance in sporting competitions furthers national unity. Only 18.8 percent of respondents supported Taiwanese teams’ continued use of the name “Chinese Taipei” in international sporting competitions, the survey showed. Among Taiwan’s leading political parties, the name “Team Taiwan” was supported by 91.1 percent of self-identified Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters,