Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Pasuya Yao (姚文智) on Monday expressed hopes of working with DPP New Taipei City mayoral candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) on a joint campaign event to be held on Saturday next week.
Yao yesterday said that the two special municipalities have an inseparable relationship and that under his and Su’s leadership, the municipalities would support each other, adding that he was looking at the possibility of cooperating with Su in their campaigns.
Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊), Premier William Lai (賴清德) and other key party figures would make appearances during campaign events planned for Saturday next week, he said.
Cooperation with Su at the events would strengthen the party’s campaign efforts in the two places, Yao said, adding that there are already plans for the party’s mayoral and county commissioner candidates to campaign together on July 15, when the party is to hold its national congress.
It is important for the party to consolidate its efforts now, as it spent a long time discussing whether to back Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) for re-election, Yao said, adding that he on Monday met with two Su campaign supporters, DPP legislators Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Chang Hung-lu (張宏陸), to discuss his hopes for cooperation at the event later this month.
Su Tseng-chang’s campaign team would need to deliberate before deciding whether the two nominees would work together at that event or meet at another date, he said, but added that regardless of what happens this month, the whole party would be out together in force on July 15.
Separately, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) on Sunday said he plans to meet with KMT New Taipei City mayoral candidate Hou You-yi (侯友宜) in August to discuss the common areas of their platforms.
Hou on Monday said there was room for cooperation between the two municipalities on issues related to transportation, environmental protection, public security and water management.
However, the two have yet to announce plans to campaign together.
Ho’s office director, Hsieh cheng-ta (謝政達), said that while the two municipalities form a shared metropolitan area, there would need to be a discussion before the two candidates hold a formal meeting to avoid wasting time.
So far, the two have no plans to meet in August, Hsieh said.
Ting said that while the two have yet to cooperate in their campaigns, they have collaborated in the past on other issues and have a great working relationship.
Additional reporting by Ho Yu-hua and Chiu Hsu-yu
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we