US Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday accepted the Democratic presidential nomination in Chicago, pledging a “new way forward” for the nation.
“With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past — a chance to chart a new way forward,” Harris said. “And I want you to know: I promise to be a president for all Americans.”
She was later joined on stage at the Democratic National Convention by her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and their families, holding their arms aloft while 100,000 red, white and blue balloons tumbled from the ceiling.
Photo: AP
Harris reached out to people across the political divide in the US, promising to bring economic opportunity and protect their personal freedoms.
“I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations,” she said.
Harris criticized former US president Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.
“We know what a second Trump term would look like,” she said, adding that he wanted to “pull our country back to the past.”
She laid out her personal story as a child of a single working mother, and her career as a prosecutor, saying she has the background and experience to serve the country, in contrast to Trump, who she said only works for himself and “his billionaire friends.”
She accused Trump of trying to “cozy up” to leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Harris pledged instead to “stand strong” with Ukraine as it fights Russia’s invasion and support NATO allies.
Regarding Israel’s war in Gaza, Harris called the scale of suffering in the Palestinian enclave “heartbreaking.”
She vowed to get a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and cheers erupted when she vowed “self-determination” for the Palestinian people.
People have protested throughout the Democratic National Convention seeking a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and several thousand rallied again on Thursday.
“I am proud to watch my partner Kamala Harris accept our nomination for president. She will be an outstanding president because she is fighting for our future,” US President Joe Biden, who was on holiday in California, wrote on X.
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,
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so