In a last-ditch effort to make cooperation between the People First Party and KMT work, PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) plans to meet his KMT counterpart, Lien Chan (連戰), in the coming days.
"It's obvious from the lack of any substantial results that this can't drag on much longer," Soong said yesterday.
The two parties have been planning to field joint candidates in year-end county commissioners' races, but so far have failed to agree on potential contenders.
Much of the problem stems from local-level opposition to the alliance from members of each party.
Soong said that during the planned meeting -- which he described as a "final attempt" -- the two leaders would decide whether cooperation efforts for the year-end elections will continue or end.
"If there is a fair and reasonable method [for selecting candidates] to bypass some problems at the local level, the PFP is willing to work harder to have both sides come to an agreement," Soong said.
Soong said that the parties could conduct opinion polls or any other agreed-upon method to select joint candidates.
Soong's proposal came hours after David Chung (
Accusing the KMT of being insincere in cooperating with the PFP, Chung said some KMT officials were blocking the cooperation agreement reached between Soong and Lien.
"Though my chairman has never blamed me," Chung said, "he has continually said at public occasions that the KMT never shows any sincerity in the area of cooperation."
The two parties have been negotiating for almost five months on cooperating in commissioners' races in the counties of Taipei, Taoyuan, Taitung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Penghu.
According to an initial agreement between the parties, the KMT was to support the PFP's candidates for commissioner in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taitung, where the PFP enjoys broad public support. The PFP was to reciprocate in the remaining three counties.
But politicians at the local level have objected to the arrangements because it denies them the chance to run for public office.
The PFP is especially unhappy with the fact that none of the PFP candidates have yet won the KMT's backing.
In Taitung County, the KMT in July gave the go-ahead to Wu Chun-li (
In Kaohsiung County, KMT Legislator Wu Kuang-hsun (
In Taipei County, the PFP nominated its deputy secretary-general, Chin Chin-sheng (
In the past week, several PFP officials have expressed their dissatisfaction with the KMT over the lack of progress on the cooperation plans.
On Wednesday, PFP Vice Chairman Chang Chao-hsiung (張昭雄) said that KMT members with close ties to former president and KMT chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) were obstructing the efforts.
Lee is widely believed to oppose the KMT's decision to ally with the PFP.Also See Editorial Inside
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
RSS