The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said it was cautiously optimistic about the Greater Taichung mayoral election in November, with the party’s candidate, DPP Legislator Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), leading incumbent Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) by almost 20 percentage points in the party’s latest survey.
“In a poll conducted by the DPP three days ago, Lin enjoyed a comfortable lead of 48 percent to Hu’s 29 percent. Moreover, 45.3 percent of respondents favored Lin as the winner, with only 29.6 percent picking Hu, who is seeking re-election,” DPP spokesperson Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) said.
With Lin consistently leading in a series of public opinion polls, the DPP is hopeful of victory in Greater Taichung — a key constituency that DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has called a “must-win” and a barometer of the party’s success in the seven-in-one elections.
Tsai has said the DPP is targeting wins in at least nine of the 22 mayoral and commissioner races.
In Changhua County, the DPP visited former county commissioner Huang Shih-cheng (黃石城), father of independent hopeful Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲), to explore a possible collaboration, the spokesperson said.
Whether Huang Wen-ling, a former Taiwan Solidarity Union legislator, agrees to a cooperation, the DPP has confidence in its own candidate, DPP Legislator Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷), Hsu said.
At a campaign strategy committee meeting yesterday, participants discussed the five remaining constituencies where the party has yet to announce candidates. They are Hsinchu City, Hsinchu County, Hualien County, Kinmen County and Lienchiang County.
The committee will make a final decision on whether to nominate candidates in Kinmen, Lienchiang and Hualien counties — arguably the party’s weakest constituencies — and in the predominantly Hakka constituency of Hsinchu County, as well as Hsinchu City at a committee meeting next week.
Hsu confirmed that former Hsinchu mayor Tsai Jen-chien (蔡仁堅) is interested in running for mayor again.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —