Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative candidate Enoch Wu (吳怡農) on Thursday evening launched a Facebook campaign to prevent retired lieutenant general Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷) — No. 4 on the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) legislator-at-large list — from remaining a nominee to the Legislative Yuan.
Enoch Wu — who seeks to represent Taipei’s Zhongshan (中山) and Songshan (松山) districts — wrote that the goal of the Facebook campaign is to prevent the KMT from getting more than 1.59 million votes in the Jan. 11 legislative elections, which would prevent Wu Sz-huai from obtaining a legislative seat.
In the nation’s single-district, two-vote system, Taiwanese cast one vote for a district legislator and another for a party, from which the legislator-at-large seats are apportioned among the parties. A party must receive at least 5 percent of the total party vote to be allocated at-large seats.
Photo courtesy of Enoch Wu’s campaign office
The Facebook campaign gained nearly 30,000 likes and thousands of shares overnight, Enoch Wu told a news conference yesterday, which was also attended by DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) and DPP legislator-at-large candidate Fan Yun (范雲).
Wang said that the KMT’s inclusion of the president of the 800 Heroes for the Republic of China Association on its list shows disrespect for Taiwanese taxpayers, as he attended a major event featuring a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and has also offered military advice to China on a TV program.
Wang was referring to Wu Sz-huai’s participation in a 2016 event in Beijing — where he was observed to stand during the playing of the Chinese national anthem — and his recommendations to the People’s Liberation Army in a TV program broadcast by Hong Kong-based Phoenix Satellite TV on how it could best fight US forces.
“Wu Sz-huai’s existence in the legislature poses the biggest threat to Taiwanese,” Wang said.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
QUICK LOOK: The amendments include stricter recall requirements and Constitutional Court procedures, as well as a big increase in local governments’ budgets Portions of controversial amendments to tighten requirements for recalling officials and Constitutional Court procedures were passed by opposition lawmakers yesterday following clashes between lawmakers in the morning, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members tried to block Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators from entering the chamber. Parts of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed the third reading yesterday. The legislature was still voting on various amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) as of press time last night, after the session was extended to midnight. Amendments to Article 4
‘ONE BRIDGE’: The US president-elect met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 in Florida and the two discussed a potential Taiwan-China conflict’s implications for world peace US president-elect Donald Trump has described Taiwan as “a major issue for world peace” during a meeting with Akie Abe, the widow of late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun quoted sources as saying in a report yesterday. Trump met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where the two discussed the Russo-Ukrainian war and the situation in the Taiwan Strait. During the meeting, Trump spoke on the implications for world peace of a potential Taiwan-China conflict, which “indicated his administration’s stance of placing importance on dealing with the situation in