
AI-generated summary
Hong Kong issued a rebuttal after ten countries — the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the UK — issued a joint statement on Friday criticizing the sentencing of opposition activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung and the earlier jailing of many others under the national security law.
Hong Kong has hit back at a joint statement from 10 countries over the latest sentencing of opposition activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung, accusing them of distorting facts and smearing the city’s national security law.
The rebuttal came after the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the UK issued a joint statement on Friday saying the sentencing of Wong, together with the earlier jailing of many others, showed how the city’s national security law (NSL) was being used to “target individuals for political expression and participation”.

Executive President Toh Wing-tai has decided not to countersign the draft amendment to the "Elderly Welfare Law" that was forcefully passed by the Kuomintang and the People's Party. Minister of Health and Welfare Shi Chongliang pointed out that if people over 65 years old are exempted from paying health insurance premiums, the country will need to burn an additional 40 billion yuan every year, the burden on working people will increase, and health insurance finance will also face the challenge of demographic reversal.

KMT New Taipei City mayoral candidate Li Sichuan, Mayor Hou Youyi, and People's Party Chairman Huang Guochang attended the inauguration meeting of New Taipei City Council candidates Chen Shixuan and Cheng Chenghong's campaign headquarters, emphasizing that the Blue and White election will not change before and after the election, and will integrate political opinions and talents across parties to work for the development of New Taipei City.

DPP Taichung mayoral candidate He Hsinchun clarified that the elderly health insurance subsidy will not be canceled due to the election results. The budget has been prepared and will continue to be promoted. He rebutted his opponents Jiang Qichen and Lu Xiuyan's statement that "if they don't win, there will be no subsidy." He also called on supporters to help publicize and clarify.

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan went to the Liaoning night market to sweep the streets to solicit votes. Supporters were accused of bullying the "Yu Yi Cun" dumpling shop. The founder of the shop spoke out and took a leave of absence. The idea that the boss was a gangster was circulated on the Internet, but the founder of the shop denied it, saying that the content of the news was untrue and demanded that the article be withdrawn.

After collecting evidence from the Tainan and Taoyuan City Investigation Bureaus, they brought back Lin Dewang, chairman of the Taiwan People's Communist Party, and Chen Zhenzhou, who was running for mayor of Hsinchu City with his party, for investigation. After a re-examination, the prosecutor determined that the two had violated the anti-infiltration law and were in danger of colluding with witnesses and fleeing. They applied to the court for detention.

Democratic Progressive Party Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Boyang criticized supporters of Kuomintang mayor Chiang Wanan for shouting slogans in front of a dumpling shop that supports "Ocean Current" and scaring the store staff. He believed this was not normal. He stressed that supporters should respect each other and that if they have any objections to the municipal government, they can go directly to him.