Ellen Huang (黃越綏), a former presidential candidate hopeful advocating Taiwanese independence, held a press conference yesterday to explain her reasons for dropping out of the race the day before.
Huang said she was unlikely to collect 260,000 signatures, the threshold mandated by the Central Election Commission to register as a presidential candidate. She had collected 101,931 signatures in 105 days of campaigning, Huang said.
The 64-year-old said she would support Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) presidential campaign if Tsai extends an invitation, because she would like to see a female president in Taiwan.
Funding was also a problem for Huang, who is known for her dedication to children’s welfare.
A deposit of NT$1 million (US$34,000) is required for an applicant recommended by way of joint signatures and another NT$15 million is required to register as a presidential candidate, according to the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法).
“I might as well buy 20,000 lunchboxes for underprivileged children with the NT$1 million,” she said.
Huang said she “fought alone” during the campaign, accompanied by senior independence advocates Peng Ming-min (彭明敏) and Su Beng (史明), as well as DPP officials Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) and Kao Chien-chih (高建智).
Huang said she was disappointed she was attacked during her campaign, being described by some as taking bribes from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) or being a sidekick of former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but