Under a call for unity, former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康), who had previously declared his intention to run in the legislative election, announced yesterday that he would not join the party primary.
Before the announcement, the field for Taipei City’s second district, which is comprised of Shilin (士林) and Datong (大同), was crowded with four hopefuls vying for the party’s nominations — namely Tuan, former legislators Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉) and Julian Kuo (郭正亮) and former Government Information Office minister Pasuya Yao (姚文智).
UNITED FRONT
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
In a bid to consolidate and form a united front, the DPP Legislatorial District Nomination Committee invited the four candidates to negotiate a solution.
While Kuo did not show up, Tuan said he would back out of the primary and the committee had accepted his decision.
Following his announcement, Tuan, accompanied by DPP Taipei City councilors Wu Su-yao (吳思瑤), Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) and Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑), apologized to all his supporters.
“I have felt the expectations of the voters, but I hope the DPP spirit of ‘giving for the sake of unity’ is preserved,” Tuan said, adding that he made his decision because he did not want to see the voters torn by difficult choices in the primary.
STICK TOGETHER
Tuan said he believes the remaining three candidates for the Shihlin-Datong constituency would abide by the outcome of the party primary and win the elections “by sticking together.”
Tuan added he would not consider running in another constituency.
When asked for response to Tuan’s decision to back out, Yao said he had no comment, while Luo said he would work harder. Kuo said it was Tuan’s personal judgement of the situation.
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we