The “disappearance” from the public eye of Peoples First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong’s (宋楚瑜) running mate, Lin Ruey-shiung (林瑞雄), since Tuesday stems from efforts by the party to give Lin a crash course on the political set-up of the PFP, sources said.
With barely 24 hours between being declared Soong’s potential running mate and his first press conference, Lin’s casual dress and rigid answers on political issues at the press conference raised doubts over his political acumen.
This showed that Lin needed a crash course on political issues, the sources said, pointing to his bungled response to a question on whether he would participate in the election even if Soong failed to collect 1 million signatures as he vowed to do in order to join the presidential race.
Internet screen grab
Although Soong chose to remain vague on the matter, Lin took over the microphone and said that if those signatures were not obtained, he would not participate in the election.
PFP officials said on Saturday that aside from managing some personal matters and applying to give up his US citizenship, Lin needed some time to compose himself.
The political arena is foreign to him, PFP officials said.
“He’s suddenly on the election frontline and he doesn’t know what to say,” the officials said. “If he says the wrong thing, then it’s even worse.”
PFP spokesman Wu Kun-yu (吳崑玉) also said on Saturday that for the past two days Lin was taking in a lot of information, including what is said in newspapers, understanding the content of Soong’s recent talks, the ideals of the PFP, the “Second Silent Revolution” thought pattern and the “insides” of the political world.
All of this will prepare him for future talks in public and with the media, Wu said.
The “Second Silent Revolution” is a concept brought up by Soong that calls for thorough reforms to the system of democratic governance adopted by Taiwan.
PFP spokesperson Lee Tung-hao (李桐豪) said Lin has been on the move for the past two days, getting pictures taken for the campaign ads, visiting party headquarters, as well as showing up at some small events to explain his views on Taiwan’s future and development.
With limited campaign resources and because Soong wanted a different kind of election, the PFP’s election campaign would not be the same as before, Wu said, adding that they would not necessarily flight commercial film ads or distribute pamphlets.
“We will look for the proper time to share our ideals with the public and we will try to have in-depth dialogue with the various sectors, through petition-signing events and other talks and policy-explanation events, before Lin and Soong register as candidates,” Wu said.
“The PFP does not have the money to hold campaign events and even if we did, we would not,” Wu said.
Netizen supporters of Soong have placed his profile picture over the original face on the Seediq Bale promotional poster, hoping to spread word of Soong’s petition efforts.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS