After months of speculation and innuendo, People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
The KMT, which nominated its own Taipei mayoral candidate Hau Lung-bin (
Pledging to run as a candidate "transcending party affiliations," Soong shrugged off the KMT's concerns by declaring that he would temporarily leave his position as PFP chairman to run as an independent candidate, while urging Taipei residents to choose their future mayor according to the candidates' abilities.
"We should not depend on `faction politics' in Taiwan ... In choosing the future Taipei mayor, residents should consider candidates' abilities, instead of asking what a candidate's father or his party chairman can do," Soong said while releasing his new book at the Mayor's Arts Residence Salon.
To chants of "Go, go Chairman Soong," the PFP chairman promised that if elected mayor he would visit the city's districts on a regular basis to better understand residents' concerns.
Soong dismissed claims that he was running for mayor to retain his visibility prior to the 2008 presidential election, saying he would be satisfied with a four-year term as mayor and would not seek re-election thereafter.
"Taipei City Hall is not a springboard to the Presidential Office ... [Serving as mayor] would represent the conclusion of my political career," he said.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"Chairman Soong has put all his effort into understanding Taipei City's issues ... Given an opportunity, I believe that he will transform Taipei into a brand new city," Wang said.
Soong promised that if elected he would focus his efforts on issues such as urban regeneration and water resource projects.
Incumbent Taipei Mayor and KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
"We will continue to try every possible means to ensure that there is only one candidate representing the pan-blue alliance," Ma said at Taipei City Hall.
In addition to Hau and Soong, independent Legislator Lee Ao (
Ma said the pan-blue camp could not afford another split such as it suffered in the March 2000 presidential election and the 1994 Taipei mayoral race. He added that he would do whatever he could to avoid such a scenario, including meeting with Lee or Soong.
Hau said he respected Soong's decision to run and vowed to compete in a gentlemanly manner.
"Pan-blue voters should join forces and not be split. As the KMT candidate, the most important thing for me is to spare no effort to earn voters' support," Hau said while registering his candidacy for the election with the Taipei Municipal Election Commission.
Hau promised that if elected mayor he would work to develop Taipei as a friendly, safe and truly international city.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who brought cheerleaders and baseball players with him to the Central Election Commission, told the press that hosting the Olympic Games in Taipei in 2020 was a possibility.
Calling rival KMT candidate Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) "pessimistic," Hsieh said: "Taipei needs a mayor who can make the impossible possible."
Taiwan Solidarity Union candidate Clara Chou (
In Kaohsiung, the DPP's Chen Chu (
Chen said she would implement 10 major policies to establish Kaohsiung as a "happy, oceanic capital."
Additional reporting by Flora Wang, with CNA
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS