The proposal for a joint KMT-PFP ticket for next year's presidential election featuring the parties' chairmen got a chilly reception from KMT heavyweights and pro-localization party legislators yesterday.
The KMT members said that, rather than the proposed pairing of their chairman Lien Chan (
The KMT members stressed that elections campaigns were not about paying deference to party seniority or leaders ambitions but about winning power and the party should field the most effective ticket to bring this about.
"The goal here is not to run on a ticket but to win an electoral victory," said KMT Vice Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
Lien and Soong last month had pledged to field a joint ticket for the 2004 presidential election. However, debate over who will head the ticket and who will serve as the running mate has been a thorny issue in talks about inter-party cooperation.
Calling on both Lien and Soong to grasp an understanding what it really means "to let go," Wu said that the issue to consider was whether there is any combination of candidates other than Lien and Soong which might have a greater chance of winning.
"After all," added Wu, "both Lien and Soong did say that neither one of them thinks that each one alone is the only choice for the presidential position."
Taichung City Mayor Jason Hu (
Hu also encouraged Ma to seek the higher position he deserves.
Pro-localization KMT Legislator Shyu Jong-shyong (徐中雄) said that if debate continues to drag on over who will be the presidential candidate and who the running mate, the so-called KMT-PFP partnership will be heading for electoral defeat, since it will waste too much time that would better be devoted to campaign strategy.
Shyu also said that prolonged negotiation over the ticket might disgust voters who would see it as little more than an unedifying divvying up of the spoils of office.
KMT Legislator Chen Hung-chang (
When asked by media to comment on Chen's suggestion, Wang said "it's a joke, don't take it too seriously," while Ma restated his support for a Lien-Soong ticket and stressed the importance of KMT-PFP cooperation if the pan-blue alliance wished to win the election.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
The WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on Friday, as part of justification for Washington withdrawing from the global health body. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that the US was pulling out of the UN agency, as it failed to fulfill its responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist, O’Neill wrote on X on Friday, Taiwan time. “It ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns.” The US will “continue international coordination on infectious
RSS