The Megaport Festival “has made many mothers weep,” Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) wife, Lee Chia-fen (李佳芬), said yesterday. It was not clear what she was insinuating.
Lee made the remarks while campaigning for Han, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, and KMT Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) in New Taipei City, adding that as a mother she knows what many parents are worried about.
The festival’s organizers last month announced that there would not be a 12th Megaport Festival next year after facing pressure from the Kaohsiung City Government.
Photo: Ho Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The festival, cofounded by metal band Chthonic frontman Freddy Lim (林昶佐), now an independent legislator, is frequently headlined by rock band Fire EX, which promotes Taiwanese independence.
As a mother, she would like to see a society that is built on harmony and reciprocity, Lee said.
For that reason, Han has been working hard to improve the nation’s economy and education, while caring for the disadvantaged, she said.
Han would aim to improve the nation’s education system and take care of the disadvantaged if elected president, she added.
While Han was running for mayor last year, she encountered many mothers who cried in her arms due to worries about their children’s school curriculum, Lee said.
She learned from her trips across Asia that Taiwanese children are gifted and would have a great future if they were given the proper opportunities and training, she said.
It would be the “sin of our generation” if we fail to provide a good environment for our children, Lee added.
In related news, KMT Chairman Wu Den-Yih (吳敦義) yesterday said he has not received word on KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) being tapped to be Han’s running mate when asked to comment on the rumor on the sidelines of a rally in Miaoli County.
Chiang had on Saturday dismissed the rumor as untrue.
Previously, former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), former premier Simon Chang (張善政) and former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) had all been rumored to be Han’s vice presidential candidate.
Wu told reporters in Miaoli that Han has asked him who would make a good vice president.
He suggested that Han find someone who can complement him and work well with him, Wu said.
He also told Han that he must pick his own vice president and wished him good luck, he said.
While it was rumored that Han was originally scheduled to attend the Miaoli rally with local KMT legislative candidates Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) and Hsu Chih-jung (徐志榮), Hsu said that Han had informed party members that he would not be attending the rally.
Han would definitely visit Miaoli, Hsu added.
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we