Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Chia-chin (
They are Hung Hsiu-chu (
With tears streaming down his face, Lee Chia-chin told yesterday morning's press conference that he hopes that his withdrawal will help unify the pan-blue alliance and reclaim the county after it was lost to the pan-green camp 16 years ago.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
"We lost the election because we are not united," he said. "When Chou announced his candidacy, he said he would like to be the first grain of sand toward the incorporation of the pan-blues. I hope my withdrawal from the primary today serves as the first step toward the pan-blue camp's integration."
"Lee Chia-chin said that his withdrawal was inspired by Chou's `first grain of sand' theory. He said that he was very emotional and over-reacting when Chou announced his return to the KMT to participate in the party's primary.
"After interacting with him and carefully thinking things over, I decided to drop out of the race and give him my endorsement," he said. "I am also happy to accept the offer to be his campaign manager."
While Lee Chia-chin said that he was not pressured to make the decision, Lee Chien-lung said that he strongly suspects that his rival was forced to do so by the higher-ups in the party.
"Closed-door politics," he said. "If the pan-blue alliance wants to recover Taipei County, solid grassroots support base is key."
As Lee Chien-lung vowed to continue his campaign, Hung said that she was stunned and baffled by Lee Chia-chin's decision, but she will continue her election bid.
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.
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
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
RSS