Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) yesterday urged supporters to join him at a rally on Taipei’s Ketagalan Boulevard on Thursday to show their love for the Republic of China.
The rally would be the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate’s final large-scale campaign event in the capital before Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections.
Quoting the lyrics of Night Raid (夜襲), a military song, Han said that he would be ready to “launch a lightning attack” and fight “a fierce battle” to secure victory.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
“I know that all my good friends and supporters have been waiting for this moment for a very long time,” he said. “I urge all of you to join the event on Ketagalan Boulevard to express your support, faith and love for the Republic of China.”
The KMT’s 15 mayors and county commissioners would attend the rally, as would its legislative candidates from Taipei, New Taipei City and Keelung, KMT Vice Chairman Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) said.
KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) would also attend, Tseng said.
Han’s campaign office hopes that about 1 million people attend, office spokeswoman Anne Wang (王淺秋) said, adding that there would be a surprise guest.
While the KMT had planned to hold the rally on the eve of the elections, it could not find a venue in the city, as the Democratic Progressive Party had booked the boulevard for Friday.
Asked about remarks President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) made yesterday that Han should apologize for his comments about a deadly helicopter crash, Wang said Han was merely expressing concerns about the nation.
A UH-60M Black Hawk on Thursday crashed in New Taipei City, killing eight of the 13 military personnel on board.
Speaking at a rally in Taoyuan on Sunday, Han said: “In the Republic of China’s decades-long history, there has never been an accident in which the chief of the general staff and the chief master have been killed at the same time.”
“The nation is having bad luck. What exactly is happening? Did Taiwan offend someone? Is Taiwan possessed by evil spirits? Is Taiwan sick?” he asked.
Han did not intend to attack anyone, Wang said yesterday, adding: “Exaggerating his words for political gain is what I would call an attack.”
As president, Tsai’s priority should be ensuring a swift investigation to clarify the cause of the incident, Wang said.
Later yesterday, Han announced a plan to boost visitor numbers to the National Palace Museum Southern Branch in Taibao City (太保), Chiayi County.
He would develop cultural, educational and recreation industries in the area, Han told reporters outside the National Palace Museum in Taipei following a tour of it.
He visited the Taipei museum to consult former National Palace Museum director Chou Kung-shin (周功鑫) about problems at the southern branch, Han said.
National Palace Museum Deputy Director Huang Yung-tai (黃永泰) said that Han contravened the institute’s rules by talking to the media outside the museum.
The museum bans all campaign-related activities on its grounds, Huang said, adding that museum staff tried to stop the mayor, but to no avail.
Additional reporting by Ling Mei-hsueh and CNA
‘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