Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday arrived in Tokyo on a visit to meet with friends and Taiwanese expatriates.
Upon arrival at Haneda Airport, Tsai was greeted by a group of her supporters, Taiwanese Representative to Japan Shen Ssu-tsun (沈斯淳) and members of the Japanese media.
Her four-day trip, which she has dubbed a “Taiwan-Japan friendship tour,” is aimed at meeting friends and visiting Taiwanese expatriate communities ahead of next year’s Jan. 16 presidential election, she said in response to questions from Japanese media.
Photo: CNA
Tsai said she also hopes to meet with people in Japan who are familiar with the nation’s efforts to cope with the challenges of globalization and to talk with leaders in the industrial sector about possible cooperation in economic and industrial areas.
Given the opportunity, Tsai said she would also like to exchange ideas with members of Japan’s two main political parties and others in the political arena.
Tsai is leading by a wide margin in public opinion polls and is seen in some quarters as poised to become the nation’s first female president.
Regarding reports that the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) upper echelon has discussed with its presidential candidate, Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), growing calls for Hung to drop out of the race due to her low level of support, Tsai said that it would be inappropriate for her to comment on the matter, as it is a KMT internal issue.
However, she added that “what people want to see is a stable political party and a reliable team, and what Taiwanese have seen recently is that the DPP is a stable political party and a reliable team.”
Additional reporting by Su Fang-ho
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
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
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
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