Acting Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) today announced he would run for party chair with the election set to be held next month.
Former party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) resigned earlier this month, as he is still being held in detention as part of an ongoing investigation into the Core Pacific City redevelopment corruption case.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
Huang announced his candidacy on Facebook this morning, saying his goal is to “strengthen Taiwan’s third force,” referring to the party.
“Taiwan’s third force is a hard-earned flame that is vital for future democratic development and must not be extinguished,” he said.
The party needs to focus on three goals, Huang said.
First, it needs to find more leaders to guide society toward steady progress in next year’s local elections, he said.
Second, it must maintain its responsibility to curb the expansion of government power and speak up for the people, he said.
“Taiwan belongs to the Taiwanese people, not to the Democratic Progressive Party,” he said.
Third, it must carry the spark ignited by Ko, building the blueprint for Taiwan’s future development, he said.
While Ko is unable to lead the party, Huang would make every effort to move the party forward, bringing about reforms and progress that Taiwan needs, he said.
“Comrades, let us work together so that Ko will be proud of this party when he returns,” Huang said.
The election for party chair is to take place on Feb. 15 from 9am to 4pm through online voting, the party said.
Candidates must have joined the party before Feb. 14 last year and been a Central Committee member to qualify, according to party regulations.
The party’s top leaders have agreed to support Huang, people familiar with the matter said.
Huang has the unanimous support of the party and no one dares challenge him for the position, an anonymous party member said.
The only other eligible party member with sufficient backing is founding party member Tsai Pi-ju (蔡壁如).
During a political talk show yesterday, Tsai said she would not necessarily run and would only decide after discussing it with key party leaders.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of