Campaigns for the Nov. 26 local elections heated up as the two major parties last night held their largest rallies yet in Taipei and New Taipei City as they stumped for votes.
Crowds turned out to join President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson, along with other prominent DPP figures at a rally on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building.
DPP party leaders urged supporters to help win back Taipei and New Taipei City, promoting the party’s Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) and New Taipei City mayoral candidate Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) as having “democracy DNA” and broad international vision.
Photo: CNA
The candidates would help safeguard Taiwan and take leading roles in global diplomacy, the leaders said.
Among the DPP luminaries who took the stage were Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Vice President William Lai (賴清德).
The DPP government safeguarded Taiwan through the COVID-19 pandemic and was praised internationally, they said, giving most of the credit to Chen, who is the former head of the Central Epidemic Command Center.
Photo: CNA
“In these changing times, we need these two men to take charge of our capital and New Taipei City. Both Chen and Lin have proven themselves as Cabinet ministers, and were highly capable and responsible leaders who care about Taiwanese,” Lai said.
Organizers estimated that the crowd reached more than 50,000 attendees as of press timet.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) also held a large rally last night, at Area 1 of New Taipei City’s Banciao Sports Stadium last night.
All of its mayoral nominees for the six special municipalities shared the stage as a show of party unity — Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Ko Chih-en (柯志恩), Tainan mayoral candidate Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介), Taoyuan mayoral candidate Simon Chang (張善政), Taipei mayoral Candidate Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), New Taipei City mayoral candidate Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and Taichung mayoral candidate Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), the latter two seeking re-election.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) urged voters to support the party’s candidates, saying that only by choosing the right person to lead the six municipalities can Taiwan move forward.
Chu said the DPP should live up to its name and remain progressive instead of using underhanded, regressive tactics.
As the party’s chairman, Chu said he would live up to expectations and “coach” the party in protecting Taiwan’s democracy and liberties for a peaceful and stable future.
The party estimated that about 50,000 supporters also attended its rally.
Unlike most countries, Taiwan cannot use its country’s own name to compete in the Olympic Games or other major international sports events. Instead, it participates under the name “Chinese Taipei,” a name that causes confusion and sparks curiosity among many people, including an American director who explored the topic in his new documentary. Garret Clarke, the director of the 20-minute documentary What’s in a Name? A Chinese Taipei Story, said in an recent media interview said that he was motivated to make the documentary because he finds the name “Chinese Taipei” to be “weird.” The dispute that eventually created the name dates back
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to
The trailer of a new TV series portraying a Chinese attack on Taiwan has prompted a wave of emotional response and discussion in the nation. The teaser for Zero Day (零日攻擊), a Taiwanese production partly funded by the government and is expected to air next year, has given many viewers a sense of urgency. Its release this week coincided with annual air raid drills to prepare the nation’s 23 million residents in the event of an invasion by the Chinese military. “I burst into tears watching this. I feel heavy-hearted, and it is scary. However, this is what we need to face
CASUALTIES: The typhoon has left seven people dead, run cargo ships aground and caused landslides that have severed roads and left people stranded, officials said Typhoon Gaemi, which made landfall in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳) on Thursday, has left seven dead, one missing and 785 injured since Wednesday, the Central Emergency Operations Center said. The casualties announced by the center as of 2pm yesterday included two men who died in separate incidents, a 65-year-old in Tainan and a 75-year-old in Yunlin County. The man in Tainan was taken to hospital after he had fallen doing home repair work, while the man in Yunlin, who was driving a scooter on his way home, was taken to hospital after he was hit by falling tree branches and crashed,