The Central Election Commission yesterday said that a motion to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taoyuan City Councilor Wang Hao-yu (王浩宇) had been approved and the vote would be held on Jan. 16.
The motion was proposed by Hope Media executive officer Tang Ping-jung (唐平榮).
Eligible voters in the constituency represented by Wang number 315,143, of which 31,515 had to sign for the recall motion to proceed, the commission said.
Photo: Tsai Ching-hua, Taipei Times
The commission received 38,922 signatures, of which 5,506 were invalid, it said, adding that the number of valid signatures exceeded the threshold.
Wang would be asked to provide by Dec. 3 documents in his defense, while a televised debate on the recall would be held between Jan. 6 and Jan. 15, the commission said, adding that voting on Jan. 16 would run from 8am to 4pm.
The count would be verified and the result announced by Jan. 22, it said.
In related news, a group seeking to recall independent Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Chieh (黃捷) yesterday delivered the second phase of signatures — totaling 40,918 — to the Kaohsiung City Election Commission.
Group spokesman Hsu Shang-hsien (徐尚賢) said that Fongshan District (鳳山) — which Huang represents — “does not need to be represented by someone who contributes to social instability and fails to live up to their own ideals.”
Huang has said that she wants to develop “rainbow” industries in Fongshan.
Critics have said that the plan would lead to social instability and would not respect heterosexuals.
They say that Huang’s absence when the city council voted on a measure to not permit residue of leanness-enhancing feed additives in meat showed that she does not live up to her own standards.
Huang yesterday said that she would remain focused on issues that require attention.
She called on her supporters who said that they wanted to protest the recall to stand down and continue with their lives.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
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