Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday downplayed speculation that he is seeking a coalition with the People First Party (PFP) in November’s nine-in-one elections, saying only that he is to attend a campaign event jointly held by PFP and independent Taipei city councilor candidates next month.
PFP Taipei city councilor candidates Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), Lin Kuo-cheng (林國成) and Hung Shih-chi (洪士奇) are to form an alliance with independent Taipei city councilor candidates Chen Cheng-chung (陳政忠), Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元) and Hsu Li-hsin (徐立信), the Chinese-language Mirror Media magazine reported online on Wednesday.
The alliance is to host a press conference early next month to garner support for the candidates and there is a possibility that PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) and Ko would attend, the magazine quoted an unnamed PFP member as saying.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The PFP is still considering whether Soong should attend and express support for Ko’s re-election bid, the member said, adding that nothing has been decided yet.
“In principle, we want to have fewer enemies and more friends,” Ko told reporters on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of a “healthy public housing” in Songshan District (松山).
Ko said he is aware of the PFP’s joint campaign event and that he would attend, adding that he speaks to Soong once every one to two months.
In related news, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) yesterday said that he still views Ko as his sole opponent in the Nov. 24 mayoral race.
Speaking on the sidelines of a public event in Taipei, which was also attended by former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) — one of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) mayoral aspirants — Ting reiterated his pledge to quit politics if he comes in second in the election.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
RSS