The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday criticized the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for planning to revoke the membership of a retired party staffer who has decided to support Su.
Peng Pin-yi (彭炳義), a former borough chief in Songshan District (松山), who has been a KMT member for more than 40 years, was furious at a handwritten note on an envelope containing an election campaign notification sent by the KMT’s Taipei branch, which described him as being “pro-green.” Incensed, Peng attended a campaign event organized by Su on Thursday night and publicly endorsed the DPP candidate.
“Peng decided to support me because he believes in my capabilities. The KMT, instead of reflecting upon its own mistakes, plans to punish him. That is a double error of judgment by the KMT,” Su said yesterday after visiting Guandu Temple.
Peng lashed out at the KMT for labeling him pro-green and said he decided to support Su despite the party’s threat to revoke his party membership.
KMT Taipei branch director Pan Chia-sen (潘家森) yesterday declined to confirm whether the party would cancel Peng’s membership and accused the DPP of manipulating the issue.
He further challenged the authenticity of the envelope, arguing that the party does not make notes on campaign letters to members. The envelope provided by Peng as evidence had no party member number, which strongly suggests it could be a fake, Pan said.
“We do not label party members because they all have a pro-blue stance ... Mr. Peng should talk to us if he has any problems,” Pan added.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow