Several minor parties with progressive agendas made gains in Saturday’s elections, including the Green Party Taiwan (GPT), which clinched its first electoral victories since it was founded in 1996.
Two out of the nine GPT candidates running for city and county councilor posts nationwide won, indicating growing support for the party’s platform of environmental awareness and grassroots social activism.
Chou Chiang-chieh (周江杰) was elected county councilor in Hsinchu County’s Chutung (竹東) and Wufeng (五峰) districts on the GPT’s ticket after a campaign bolstered by volunteers who canvassed hilly terrain on bicycles.
GPT candidate Wang Hao-yu (王浩宇) finished a surprising second in the contest for 10 council seats in Taoyuan’s Chungli District (中壢).
As the founder and moderator of a popular Facebook page titled: “I am from Chungli,” which features local news and entertainment, Wang channeled traffic generated by the page into support for his campaign, garnering 16,269 votes.
Meanwhile, the Tree Party — a GPT splinter organization founded earlier this year by former GPT secretary-general Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) — triumphed in the mayoral election for Nantou County’s Chichi Township (集集), marking a successful start for the party.
Vowing to represent the interests of trees, cats and dogs, along with “all those who cannot speak for themselves,” the Tree Party basked in additional wins, including one in Chichi for Chen Chi-heng (陳紀衡) and Hsu Yu-lun’s (許育綸) campaign for a citizen representative seat in Hsinchu County’s Chubei Township (竹北).
Minor left-wing parties also made gains, with the socialist pro-unification Labor Party holding on to Gao Wei-kai’s (高偉凱) seat in the Hsinchu County Council, while its only other candidate, Chen Shin-yuan (陳新源), also succeeded, winning a citizen representative contest in Hsinchu County’s Hsinpu Township (新埔).
People Are The Boss — a party founded by labor rights activist Cheng Tsun-chi (鄭村棋) in 2011 — managed to grab one borough warden post, although it fielded 37 candidates nationwide, including in the mayoral races for Keelung and Chiayi City.
Advocates for more political autonomy for Aborigines celebrated wins for the Taiwan First Nations Party, a new group that saw three of its six candidates triumph.
Rungquan lhkatafatu, a Thao Aborigine, claimed a dramatic victory in the contest for the Plains Aborigines seat in the Nantou County Council, beating his rival by a single vote.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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