President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) began his campaign for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman election, in which he is the sole candidate, by giving seven presentations in southern Taiwan yesterday.
Ma proposed dealing with party assets, enhancing cooperation between the party and the government, using the Central Standing Committee as the communication platform between the party and the government, reforming the party, offering candidates with integrity and cultivating younger talent.
“I am not running in the KMT chairman election to expand my power, but to fulfill my responsibilities ... The KMT should continue its reform efforts and fight corruption,” Ma said in Pingtung County.
He promised that the KMT would not own any businesses if he was elected and that it would play an assistant’s role in helping implement government policies.
When asked to comment on the Ministry of National Defense’s anti-corruption efforts, Ma said he had ordered the ministry to get to the bottom of the alleged corruption to restore public confidence.
The ministry released a report earlier this month that said 142 employees were suspected of graft or bribery and would be referred to military prosecutors for investigation.
Ma said he would review the progress of the investigations every three months.
“By doing so, I believe all the people will know our determination to fight corruption,” he said.
The ministry was studying the possibility of establishing government ethics agencies to prevent corruption, Ma said.
He also expressed his support for the Ministry of Justice to regulate the conduct of political critics in the media, but said solid proof should be presented if such individuals were to be investigated.
Ma visited Pingtung, Kaohsiung City, Kaohsiung County, Tainan City, Tainan County, Chiayi County and Chiayi City yesterday.
In Kaohsiung City, Ma promised to attend the opening ceremony of the World Games on Thursday.
He also reiterated his hope of communicating with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and extended an invitation to DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for talks. He promised to seek cross-party cooperation with the DPP if elected.
Ma is scheduled to give eight more platform presentation meetings in central Taiwan on Saturday, and then visit Penghu, Matsu and Kinmen on Sunday.
The Presidential Office said Ma would only campaign on weekends and after working hours, and would pay for all his campaigning expenses to ensure no national resources are used.
It said no Presidential Office staffers would accompany him on campaign events.
The KMT election will be held on July 26.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS