The only policy debate among Kaohsiung mayoral by-election candidates is to take place tomorrow afternoon and it is to be shown live on TV and the Internet.
Voting for the by-election is to take place on Aug. 15.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is represented by Kaohsiung City Councilor Jane Lee (李眉蓁), the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) by Kaohsiung City Councilor Wu Yi-jheng (吳益政) and the Democratic Progressive Party by former vice premier Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁).
Photo: CNA
The policy presentation is to be held at the Kaohsiung City Government’s Siwei Administrative Center from 2:30pm to 4pm.
Three moderators would be selected from a list of experts and civic group representatives, and the candidates would rank them before the commission asks them if they are willing to serve as debate moderators, Kaohsiung City Election Commission Chairman Lo Pang-chi (駱邦吉) said.
The commission would not announce the list of moderators before the event, Lo said.
Chen said that he is using spare time between events or while traveling to familiarize himself with pertinent points of his platform.
He said that he treats every policy point seriously and seeks to be intimately familiar with every detail.
His platform is to give due weight to public opinion and to make Kaohsiung better, Chen said, adding that he is methodical and would follow procedure if elected.
Wu said that he is consolidating his platform into ideas and concepts that people can easily understand.
Chen should present answers for the municipality’s debt of NT$300 billion (US$10.16 billion), propose how city finances would be separated from politics and explain how he would distribute the Tax Redistribution Fund, Wu said.
Lee said that her platform focuses on infrastructure, debt reduction and increasing wages, while addressing concerns regarding young people, women, farmers and fishers, as well as environmental issues.
Lee has been under fire over alleged plagiarism of her master’s thesis.
Lee has a support rate of only 21 percent, down 1 percentage point from a previous survey, an opinion poll released on Monday by TVBS showed.
Chen had the highest support rate of 55 percent, up 1 percentage point, while Wu only garnered 5 percent, the poll showed.
Nearly 19 percent of respondents did not express a preference for any candidate, it found.
The Anti-Air Pollution in Southern Taiwan Alliance said that none of the candidates addressed environmental concerns and the group would ask them to propose solutions to air pollution at the debate.
Citizens of the Earth, Taiwan urged the candidates to propose policies to address the threat of gas explosions.
In 2014, a series of gas explosions that began late on July 31 rocked Kaohsiung, causing 32 deaths and injuring 321 people.
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
EVA Airways on Saturday said that it had suspended a pilot and opened an investigation after he allegedly lost his temper and punched the first officer several times as their plane was taxiing before takeoff at Los Angeles International Airport. According to a report published on Thursday by The Reporter, the incident occurred after the flight’s Malaysian first officer tried to warn the Taiwanese pilot, surnamed Wen (文), that he was taxiing faster than the speed limit of 30 knots (55.6kph). After alerting the pilot several times without response, the first officer manually applied the brakes in accordance with standard operating
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
RSS