Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Acting Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
Wu said that although former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) would like to see Wang become chairman, former KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) -- who announced his presidential bid last month -- remains undecided.
It would be difficult for Ma's camp to accept Wang as chairman unless the legislative speaker decided not to run for president, he said.
"If Wang promises to take over the chairmanship, all the coordination problems within the party will be readily resolved," Wu said, referring to the unwillingness of either Wang or Ma to run for vice president under the other on the KMT's ticket.
Wu has previously said that he would resign as acting KMT chairman to ensure a fair competition in the by-election.
Lien admitted last Friday that he had tried to convince Wang to take the chairmanship and allow Ma to run for president, but to no avail.
"Inviting Wang to serve as the chairman was an option and he would be the perfect candidate to promote party unity. But it didn't work out that way. We regret that fact," Lien said on Friday.
"These are two different things [the chairmanship and the presidential primary]," Wang said when asked to comment on Wu's remarks.
He refused to speculate on why Wu made the comments, but said it would be unnecessary to take such an offer too seriously. He reiterated that he has his eyes on the presidency, not the KMT post.
"It's meaningless to enter the debate over whether Lien Chan wishes I was chairman so I could campaign for Ma in the presidential election -- because I have not thought of accepting the chairmanship," Wang said.
In a related development, KMT Legislator Hong Hsiu-chu (
Hung said that Lien was very worried about the turmoil in the party and the former chairman hoped all KMT members would put the party first.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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