Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) yesterday said she does not have any intention to run for Taipei mayor after lawmakers and media reports suggested her possible candidacy.
Chang, a former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator, was named as a possible DPP mayoral candidate to run against Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in next year’s elections, as the rift between the DPP and the independent mayor widens.
Cheng is considered by some to be a stronger candidate than DPP Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智), who long ago announced his intention to run for Taipei mayor.
Photo: CNA
Cheng is a well-liked politician who has never entered an election and could have greater potential to win than Yao.
Ahead of a question-and-answer session of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday, Cheng told the media that she did not have any intention of running in the election.
“I have experience in stumping for candidates, in being a legislator-at-large, but I have no experience in elections, which I have never considered,” she said.
Cheng, who took office on May 20 last year, said she is needed in her role to oversee a variety of cultural policies, especially those passed at the National Cultural Congress last month, adding that she wants to spend more time with her family.
Last month’s congress — the first in 15 years, aimed at soliciting public opinion as the foundation for cultural policy — was preceded by nationwide public hearings.
News of Cheng as a dark-horse candidate emerged earlier this week as reports claimed that DPP members had persuaded Cheng to seek the candidacy, with Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) endorsing her.
Cheng has a well-rounded resume and is an outstanding minister, lawmaker, think tank director and election campaigner. She has the edge of being a woman and an intellectual who is perceived to be honest and insightful, Tsai said.
Tsai urged the DPP to consider Cheng as a mayoral candidate for Taipei or other cities.
“We have unanimously recommended Cheng as the best dark horse on many occasions,” Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said.
Yao said he welcomed Cheng’s possible candidacy, adding that “all DPP politicians that have been named as possible Taipei mayoral candidates are better than Ko.”
Yao urged the party to end its alliance with Ko and field its own candidate, as the conflicts between the DPP administration and the Taipei City Government have compromised the well-being of Taipei residents.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
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
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
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
RSS