The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wrapped up its “Super Weekend” yesterday ahead of Saturday’s nine-in-one elections with campaign motorcades and rallies that featured top party members along with its candidates.
Given that the party has set central Taiwan as the key battleground in the elections, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), former DPP chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and former DPP secretary-general Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) headed in three separate groups to canvass in Greater Taichung, Nantou County and Changhua County, before the three teams joined up in Nantou’s Caotun Township (草屯) for an afternoon rally.
Former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) also stumped on the streets of Greater Taiching alongside mayoral candidate Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍).
Photo: Wang Chun-chieh, Taipei Times
Lin I-hsiung said Saturday’s elections are not simply about local politics, but about fostering more leadership in the nation.
The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) adoption of pro-China policies in recent years has caused some entrepreneurs to back the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to make more money, but this is not beneficial to the nation’s democratic development, he said, referring to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) support for the KMT.
Lin I-hsiung called on voters to vote for DPP candidates to show their dissatisfaction with the Ma administration’s pro-China tendencies and to force change.
Tsai had an especially busy day. In addition to her trip to central Taiwan, she also visited Taoyuan County to campaign for Taoyuan mayoral candidate Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), made an appearance in Hsinchu County to campaign for independent county commissioner candidate Cheng Yung-chin (鄭永金), stumped in Miaoli County for DPP county commissioner candidate Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻) and then traveled to Hsinchu City to back DPP mayoral candidate Lin Chih-chien (林智堅).
Last night, Tsai went back to Taoyuan, where she shared a stage with former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former vice premier Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) and attorney Wellington Koo (顧立雄) at a rally for Cheng.
Additional reporting by Tang Tsai-hsin
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
A court has approved Kaohsiung prosecutors’ request that two people working for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Dai-hua (林岱樺) be detained, as a probe into two cases allegedly involving her continues. The request was made on Friday, after prosecutors raided Lin’s two offices and the staffers’ residences, and questioned five on suspicion of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪汙治罪條例). The people included the directors of Lin’s Daliao (大寮) and Linyuan (林園) district offices in Kaohsiung, surnamed Chou (周) and Lin (林) respectively, as well as three other staffers. The prosecutors’ move came after they interrogated Lin Dai-hua on Wednesday. She appeared solemn following