The Central Election Commission’s (CEC) Taichung branch yesterday held a draw to determine the number each candidate would be assigned on the ballot in the legislative by-election for city’s second electoral district on Jan. 9.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nominee Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) drew No. 4, while Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) nominee Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恆) drew No. 5.
Taiwan Stock Investors’ Party candidate Chang Chiung-chun (張 ?春) drew No. 1, while two independent candidates, Lin Chin-lien (林金連) and Lee Sheng-han (李昇翰) drew No. 2 and No. 3 respectively.
Photo: CNA
The winner of the by-election would fill the seat left vacant after former Taiwan Statebuilding Party legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) was ousted in a recall vote on Oct. 23.
Taichung’s second electoral district encompasses Dadu (大肚), Shalu (沙鹿), Longjing (龍井), Wufong (霧峰) and Wurih (烏日) districts.
Yen was accompanied to the election commission branch by his supporters, including his sister Yen Li-min (顏莉敏), who is deputy council speaker of the Taichung City Council, and other city councilors from the pan-blue camp.
Supporters were also there to cheer for Lin, including Chen Po-wei, former Taichung mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and DPP city councilors.
Speaking to reporters, Lin Chia-lung urged officials to crack down on alleged vote-buying, and stop illegal betting by underground gambling pools, which have been known to affect the outcome of local elections.
“We call on local residents to look out for these contraventions of election regulations, and to report any illegal activity to the authorities,” he said.
“If we can put a stop to the buying of votes — to money distributed at the neighborhood level — then we are confident that Lin Ching-yi can win this election,” he said.
Yen has fought back against allegations that his campaign provided buffet-style meals at events to “buy votes.”
City councilors had accused him of providing meals that exceeded the free gift limit for campaigns.
Yen told reporters that his DPP opponent participated in a religious celebration in Taichung over the weekend, at which a crowd of more than 1,000 people, including Vice President William Lai (賴清德), allegedly had banquet-style meals.
However, Lin Ching-yi replied that Yen had been mistaken, and that she did not attend the event.
“We hope Yen can get his facts straight. I was not even there,” she added.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS