The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucuses yesterday accused the New Taipei City mayoral candidates of each copying their rival’s campaign platforms.
In July, DPP New Taipei City mayoral candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) unveiled his platform, which included policies to push urban regeneration, childcare, elderly care, smart city development and urban beautification, as well as to help the municipality’s administrative districts carve out a niche for themselves, DPP Legislator Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan.
New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), who is the KMT’s candidate for the city, copied those policies, and last month introduced his platform, which promises to “implement government-led urban renewal, double the number of public daycare centers, develop predominant business activities for each district, and build technology and security in the city,” Ho said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Su recently said that he would “provide a stage for 10 million Taiwanese to shine,” DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said, adding that Hou then said that he would “give young people a stage by transforming New Taipei City into a nexus toward which 10 million people could gravitate.”
Hou’s campaign team even copied Su, who reminded subscribers to a social media account of his to check the winning numbers for the bimonthly uniform invoice lottery, he said.
Hou’s camp might as well pay Su for planning his campaign, as Hou’s team “simply copies everything from him,” Wang said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
KMT legislators William Tseng (曾銘宗) and Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) later held a news conference, where they rejected the allegations.
Aside from urban beautification, Hou unveiled his platform in March, which was before Su was nominated by the DPP, Ko said.
When visiting a tea farm on Aug. 7, Hou proposed a policy encouraging young “farmers” to return to their hometowns, she said.
Su a week later also visited a tea farm and said he would encourage young “people” to return to their hometowns, she said.
After Hou on Aug. 9 unveiled a policy of “exploring local business opportunities,” Su on Aug. 15 proposed the same policy at a cafe, she said.
Su even copied the slogan used by outgoing New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) in 2014 when he was running for re-election: “The Doer,” she said.
“Su’s camp should be thankful that [Hou] is not charging royalties,” Ko said.
The KMT welcomes the continuation of any policy that would benefit New Taipei City residents, but opposes unfounded accusations, Tseng said.
Voters should decide for themselves who the real “copycat” is, he added.
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