People First Party (PFP) presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) has become embroiled in controversy once again after a two-minute televised commercial aired during the 50th Golden Bell Awards ceremony on Saturday.
Produced by a pro-Soong organization titled the “Spring Breeze Youth Policy Think Tank,” the commercial featured video clips of Soong visiting people affected by natural catastrophes during his term as Taiwan provincial governor from 1994 to 1998, joining political events and interacting with his late wife, Chen Wan-shui (陳萬水).
A slogan appeared a few seconds before the advertisement ended, reading: “[Only those who are] faithful to their wives and faithful to their children will be faithful to their country.”
The commercial quickly drew criticism online.
Some netizens said the commercial’s underlying concept equated single people to disloyal residents, while others said Soong must have been unfaithful to his country before he got married and had children.
Taipei City Councilor Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said on Facebook on Saturday night that the PFP was relapsing into its old habit of attacking single women.
“The PFP has just apologized for its attack on unmarried, single women. And now it is doing it again,” Kao said.
Kao shared a screenshot of a much-criticized picture posted by a PFP-managed fan page on Monday last week, which depicted presidential candidates Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party and Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) against the backdrop of a photograph of a mother carrying her child on her back.
It featured a slogan reading: “How can two single women possibly understand the needs of a family?”
The picture was removed after severe criticism online and PFP Deputy Secretary-General Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) apologized over “inappropriate comments” aimed at single women.
Soong campaign office spokesperson Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) said the advertisement was made by PFP supporters and that the party did not play any part in its production.
“Soong is grateful for all the support he has received from the public ... but the slogan depicted in the ad does not reflect his values or principles,” Chen Yi-chieh said.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS