Page Two

Taiwanese politician snaps chopsticks with his butt in exchange for votes

New York Post
Date: June 13, 2020
By: Paula Froelich


A recall election has become a real pain in the butt for one candidate.

The recall vote for the mayor of Taipei, Taiwan, got more interesting last week when Taipei City Councilor Chiu Wei-chieh pledged to “snap one chopstick in two with his buttocks for every 10,000 votes exceeding 400,000 in the recall against then-Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu,” according to the Taipei Times.

Han had infuriated people by pulling a de Blasio and running “as the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate in the Jan. 11 presidential elections, entering the race a few months after he was elected mayor, in what some voters said was a betrayal of his promises during his mayoral campaign,” according to the paper.

Chiu got more than he bargained for with the recall stunt as 939,090 residents voted for Han’s removal — far higher than the required 574,996 votes.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Black Lives Matter protest gets indigenous twist

Reuters
Date: June

A woman wipes her tears while attending a Black Live Matter rally in Taipei, Taiwan,June 13, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Hundreds packed into a park in central Taipei on Saturday for a Black Lives Matter protest, with a group of indigenous Taiwanese given prominent billing to draw attention to discrimination against the island’s original inhabitants.

A woman wipes her tears while attending a Black Live Matter rally in Taipei, Taiwan,June 13, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang

The rally, attended by more than 500 people, mostly foreigners, was peaceful with only a very light police presence.

While its main focus was to show solidarity with anti-racism protests triggered around the world by the death in police custody last month of African-American George Floyd, organisers also wanted to draw attention to some of Taiwan’s own problems.    [FULL  STORY]

Memorial service for Hsu Kun-yang held Friday

More than 300 guests pay respects to late Kaohsiung Council Speaker

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/13
By: Kelvin Chen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Multiple Kuomintang (KMT) politicians attended the memorial

Late Kaohsiung City Council-Speaker Hsu Kun-yuan (CNA photo)

service of former Kaohsiung Council Speaker Hsu Kun-yuan (許崑源) on Friday (June 12).

Former Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) also paid his respects to Hsu on Friday morning. For the first time, he took a friend's car as he no longer had an official government car or police vehicle to escort him, Liberty Times reported.

KMT Central Standing Committee member Lian Shengwen (連勝文) attended the service before noon. Meanwhile, KMT Chairman Chiang Chi-chen (江啟臣), Secretary-General Li Chien-lung (李乾龍), and Deputy Mayor Li Sih-chuan (李四川) arrived in the evening.

The memorial was organized by the KMT parliamentary group and involved more than 300 LED screens set up to form one giant monitor at the Kaohsiung municipal funeral hall. A slide show entitled “Respect and Love Forever, Speaker Hsu” was played, which shared pictures and videos of Hsu interacting with politicians and dignitaries.

Everyone silently walked into the hall. Altogether, more than 300 people sat on the floor, each holding a white flower.    [FULL  STORY]

Protesters defy Han to rally against Kaohsiung recall vote

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/13/2020 09:18 PM
By: Liu Chien-pang and Matthew Mazzetta

Chinese Unity Promotion Party founder Chang An-le (center)

Taipei, June 13 (CNA) Around 500 people rallied in front of Taiwan's Presidential Office Building on Saturday to protest the June 6 recall of Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) as mayor of Kaohsiung, despite Han's call for the organizer to cancel the event.

Huang Cheng-chung (黃正忠), chairman of the Democratic Oversight Alliance, applied on June 8 to hold the rally on Taipei's Ketagalan Boulevard, just two days after Han's recall and the death of his political ally, Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Hsu Kun-yuan (許崑源), in an apparent suicide.

The group initially expected around 2,000 people at the event, but actual attendance remained significantly lower after sources close to Han called for it to be canceled.

Without the support of Han and his party, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), the rally served as an open platform for speakers and members of the public to protest against the government, mourn Hsu and promote recall campaigns against politicians aligned with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).    [FULL  STORY]

Groups hold BLM rally in Taipei

AN OPPORTUNITY: A professor attending the rally with his family said that it was a chance for Taiwanese to reflect on their own prejudices

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 14, 2020
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter

People stand in front of a sign with the names of victims of police violence during a Black Lives Matter rally in Taipei’s 228 Peace Memorial Park yesterday.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

African Americans in Taiwan yesterday held a rally in Taipei to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, and were joined by Aboriginal rights advocates who spoke out about all racist violence.

The movement has gained renewed momentum after George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died on May 25 when white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, sparking worldwide protests against police brutality and racism.

The rally, which started at 2pm in front of the National Taiwan Museum, attracted nearly 300 people, according to police estimates.

Stefanie Davis, of the Black Lives Solidarity Global Initiative, said that it was important to show solidarity with people in the US, where there have been numerous protests and rallies.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s new envoy to Thailand looks to further bilateral exchanges

Radio Taiwan Interna
Date: 11 June, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

Taiwan’s new representative to Thailand appears in this CNA file photo.

Taiwan’s new representative to Thailand, Lee Ying-yuan, has spoken about further bilateral exchanges. Lee was named envoy by presidential decree on Wednesday.

During an interview Thursday, Lee said that Southeast Asia is in Taiwan’s neighborhood and that Taiwan should strengthen exchanges and interaction with the region.    [FULL  STORY]

Abe: ‘Very regrettable’ that Taiwan was not observer at WHO assembly

Japan Today
Date: June 11, 2020

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday that it was "very regrettable" that Taiwan was not accepted to take part as an observer at the World Health Organization assembly last month.

"Japan has consistently argued to prevent a geographical blank in the international response to public health. WHO should eliminate such a political element," Abe told parliament.

"It is important to share information and knowledge in the world including Taiwan, which managed the public health well in a free, swift and transparent way, for an infectious disease that has had significant impact globally."    [FULL  STORY]

Senior engineer to be appointed acting Kaohsiung mayor after pro-China mayor ousted: Report

Mayoral by-election in S. Taiwan city expected to be held before or on Sept. 12

Taiwan News
Date: 052020/06/11
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Yang Ming-jou. (CNA photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Less than a week after China-leaning Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) was recalled in a vote, the Executive Yuan is reportedly poised to designate a senior Kaohsiung government official with an engineering background as acting mayor of the city.

Yang Ming-jou (楊明州) started his civil servant career in 1984 as an engineer after graduating from National Cheng Kung University. He was promoted to deputy mayor by Chen Chu (陳菊), who served as mayor of Kaohsiung between 2006 and 2018. Yang remained in management positions after Han succeed Chen in 2018 — first as the city's secretary-general and later as a counselor.

Yang has served nine mayors during his service in Kaohsiung. According to reports, his expertise in civil engineering and urban development is highly valued and is believed to have helped the city government effectively prepare for inclement weather and flooding during monsoon and typhoon season.

Executive Yuan spokesman Ting Yi-ming (丁怡銘) on Thursday (June 11) declined to comment on the rumor, saying the appointment will not be announced until the Central Election Commission officially announces the results of the recall vote on the seventh day after it was held, which is Friday (June 12).    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese wins U.S. award for design of Lunar New Year card, envelope

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/11/2020
By: Kuo Chi-hsuan and Chiang Yi-ching

Photo courtesy of the Pingtung County government

Taipei, June 11 (CNA) Taiwanese Chiang Meng-chih (江孟芝) has won a prize in a design competition in the United States, with her submission of a Lunar New Year card and envelope.

The holiday card and envelope, titled "Dawn Rises," won second prize in the print media/design category of the Hermes Creative Awards, which honor "the messengers and creators of the digital revolution," who bring their ideas to life "through traditional and digital platforms," according to the Hemes website.

Chiang, creative director of Mengdom Design Lab in Taipei, will be awarded a gold statuette that is a symbol of the Greek god Hermes, while first place winners will receive a platinum statuette.

Chiang's Lunar New Year card and envelope, which were commissioned earlier this year by the local government in her home county of Pingtung, feature a design that incorporates the concept of the Year of the Rat and represents aspects of Pingtung.    [FULL  STORY]

Veteran DPP statesman highlights importance of 2-party system in Taiwan

Former presidential office advisor says 1-party dominance threatens Taiwan’s democracy

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/11
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Former Presidential Office Advisor Koo Kwang-ming. (CNA photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Amid concerns that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would dominate Taiwanese politics after the once-mighty Kuomintang (KMT) Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) was voted out of office in Kaohsiung, veteran DPP statesman Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) on Wednesday (June 10) stressed the importance of a two-party system to the country's democracy.

Last Saturday (June 6), Han suffered a devastating defeat in the vote to remove him from Kaohsiung City Hall, making him the first municipality leader in Taiwan's history to be recalled. Meanwhile, a recent poll conducted by the independence-leaning Taiwan Brain Trust also indicated that support for the KMT has dropped to a historic low of 9.2 percent.

During a press conference organized by the Taiwan New Constitution Foundation (TNC) on Thursday (June 11), Koo said he is personally opposed to the idea of a one-party system. He pointed out that Taiwan should have at least two legitimate parties to determine its future and that one-party rule would not be beneficial to the island nation's development.
[FULL  STORY]