The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday thanked supporters for backing its legislative candidates and said that it “will not be absent” in the 2022 local elections for city mayors and county commissioners.
The party was touring Taipei and New Taipei City to thank supporters for helping it secure legislator-at-large seats for Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華), Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) and Claire Wang (王婉諭) with 1,098,100, or 7.75 percent, of the political party vote.
While NPP Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), who was ranked fourth on the party’s legislator-at-large nominee list, did not win a seat, NPP Chairman Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said that the former NPP chairman would continue to play a crucial role in the party.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
Asked what the NPP’s next step would be and whether Huang would consider running for Taipei mayor in 2022, Hsu said the party aims to increase its influence at the legislative and local levels.
“The NPP will not be absent in the city mayor and county councilor elections,” he told reporters at the NPP’s headquarters before embarking on the tour.
In the local elections on Nov. 24, 2018, the party won 16 city and county councilor seats, he said, adding: “We hope to not only double, but triple that number.”
Meanwhile, Huang said: “It is too early to talk about 2022.”
“We are in 2020 and should be dealing with the problems Taiwan is facing now,” he said.
As the NPP also reached the 5 percent threshold to nominate its own candidate in the 2024 presidential election, the party would “cherish that right,” Hsu said.
He said that his plan to return to teaching after completing his term as legislator at the end of the month remains unchanged, and has already planned his classes.
The NPP’s future and the next chairperson would be determined by the party’s decisionmaking committee, he added.
Huang said that although he is not a member of the committee, he hopes that Hsu will continue to serve as chairman until the end of his term.
“As a party member I strongly hope that Yang-ming will continue to lead us,“ he said.
Hsu became chairman last year when the NPP was having a difficult time, and under his leadership the party became stronger, Huang added.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
RSS