The push for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Yesterday was a busy morning at KMT headquarters in Taipei, with both Yunlin County Council Speaker Chen Ching-hsiu (
"I have already begun a collection of signatures, and the deposit needed for registration is not a problem," Chen said, adding that he planned to register Lien as a candidate in the next couple of days.
In an embarrassing development for Ma Ying-jeou, Ma Ho-ling urged Lien to run for another term as chairman.
Ma Ho-ling said that his son "has no experience" in party operations, and that only Lien could unite the pan-blue camp.
In response, Ma Ying-jeou yesterday said that he respected his father's opinion, but planned to continue with his campaign for the party chairmanship.
Chen said he had collected between 30,000 and 50,000 signatures for Lien's bid and that the required deposit had already been dealt with. However, Lien's "agreement" to run had not yet been "settled," he said.
According to KMT regulations, party members who wish to run in the July 16 chairmanship race must deposit NT$1 million with the party and deliver a petition with the signatures of at least 3 percent of the party membership -- or a minimum of 33,000 signatures.
Chen did not say if he was optimistic about "receiving Lien's authorization" to go ahead with the registration, but he did say that he was in contact with Lien's office and that there should be "no problem."
However, he said, Lien was still standing by his previous statements that he had no intention of running.
In attempting to register Lien for the election, Chen said that he was bringing the voice of the people to the KMT headquarters.
While Lien has said on numerous occasions that he has no plans to run, supporters have argued that only Lien can unite the KMT. They contend that a contest between KMT vice chairmen Ma and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Only if Lien continues as chairman, they say, will the KMT be able to win the 2008 presidential election.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
A global survey showed that 60 percent of Taiwanese had attained higher education, second only to Canada, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan easily surpassed the global average of 43 percent and ranked ahead of major economies, including Japan, South Korea and the US, data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2024 showed. Taiwan has a high literacy rate, data released by the ministry showed. As of the end of last year, Taiwan had 20.617 million people aged 15 or older, accounting for 88.5 percent of the total population, with a literacy rate of 99.4 percent, the data
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