The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said that it welcomes a petition by former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to become a party member.
The DPP welcomes all those who support President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) views and the party’s values, party spokesman Chou Chiang-chieh (周江杰) said.
Separately, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday dismissed media reports that Chen wants to join the DPP in a bid to become the next head of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
Photo courtesy of Momo TV via CNA
Media reports said that Chen’s petition late last year to join the party under Tsai’s sponsorship would give the DPP more leeway to appoint a new CECC head or have a fresh face run for Taipei mayor.
There are no plans to swap out Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) as head of the CECC, Su said, adding that DPP membership is not a prerequisite for leading the center.
Chou said that Chen Chien-jen, when serving as vice president, fully supported Tsai’s efforts to push through pension reforms and other policies on the DPP’s platform.
He also provided the government much-needed support and assistance, drawing on his experience as a public health expert, Chou added.
Chou would not comment on who the DPP’s candidate for Taipei mayor might be, saying only that the party, having performed well in the central and local governments, would name the best possible candidate for the local elections at the end of this year.
Commenting on the possibility of Chen Chien-jen running for Taipei mayor on the DPP ticket, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), widely seen as the KMT’s candidate for the position, said only that it was a good thing that so many people wished to offer themselves to serve as mayor of the capital.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
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