Scenes from the campaign trail: A busy Sunday for main political parties

Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) It has been another busy day for the leaders of Taiwan's political parties, who spent time traveling between electoral districts and campaign events in a bid to shore up support ahead of the Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections.

Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), chairman and presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), began his Sunday by attending the opening of Legislator Wu Ping-jui's (吳秉叡) campaign headquarters in Xinzhuang District, New Taipei.

Lai told supporters that Taiwan is not the same as it was eight years ago, and should not revert to the old days of relying on China.

The vice president then headed to downtown Taipei to officially open his national campaign headquarters, where he was joined by running mate Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), Taiwan's former representative to the United States.

Dec. 3: DPP makes campaign push with HQ opening in Taipei

Also on Sunday morning, Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and the party's presidential candidate, New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), visited Taipei's Beitou District for the opening of Taipei City Councilor Chang Szu-kang's (張斯綱) legislative campaign headquarters.

At the Taipei rally, Chu responded to reports about Hou facing fundraising challenges, saying that the KMT is expected to spend the least in its history because campaign rallies are often funded with resources pooled by local party officials.

Chu then traveled to Miaoli County for the opening of three-term Legislator Chen Chao-ming's (陳超明) reelection campaign headquarters.

The KMT currently holds both Miaoli seats in the 113-seat Legislature, but Chen is running as an independent after he, two current lawmakers and a former lawmaker were found guilty in a corruption case in July 2022.

The Taiwan High Court has been hearing the case after both defendants and prosecutors filed for appeal.

The KMT chairman then traveled to neighboring Hsinchu County to campaign for the party's legislative candidate Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩), who served one term between 2012 and 2016, when the county only had one seat in the Legislature.

The KMT was also successful in winning another seat in the county which was added due to population growth in the area for the 2020 elections.

Taiwan People's Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was in Taichung on Sunday morning to campaign for the party's former At-Large Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) in the city's first electoral district, where she faces Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) of the DPP.

Tsai Pi-ru is also backed by the KMT, which did not nominate a candidate for the electoral district.

Ko later attended an event in Bangka Qingshan Temple for a parade of the deities, the second evening of the three-day religious event.

According to the temple, it has been its practice to invite the Taipei mayor to attend on the first day, opposition party politicians on the second day, and ruling party officials to the main event on the third day.

Hou took part in the religious event before Ko's arrival, carrying the palanquin of the main deity "Qingshan Wang" in the parade. Lai will attend on Monday to celebrate Qingshan Wang's birthday.