Focus Taiwan
Date: 2020/01/02
By: Yu Hsiang, Yeh Su-Ping and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, Jan. 2 (CNA) The three candidates running for president in Taiwan's Jan. 11 election announced Thursday they would temporarily suspend their campaigns, after eight armed forces members, including Chief of the General Staff Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴), were killed in a helicopter crash earlier that day.

President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said it would observe a period of mourning by suspending all campaign activities from Thursday through Saturday.

In a separate statement, Tsai said she had traveled to Yilan on Taiwan's eastern coast to oversee recovery efforts at the crash site, and had ordered the Ministry of National Defense (MND) to begin an investigation into cause of the accident.

As a sign of mourning, national flags at military installations around the country will be flown at half-mast for three days, Tsai said.    [FULL  STORY]