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
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS