The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is expected to see fierce competition today as senior politicians vie for seats in the party’s top decisionmaking body.
The party is holding its national congress today, in which 567 party representatives are to elect 30 members of the DPP’s Central Executive Committee (CEC), who will then choose 10 members to make up the Central Standing Committee (CSC).
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is an ex officio member of both of the committees.
There are other ex officio members in both committees, including top party leaders, caucus whips, city mayors and county commissioners.
According to the party, 46 people have registered for the CEC election.
Subgroups within the party led by Tsai, former premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃), former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and members of the former New Tide faction (新潮流) — one of the most powerful groups until the party banned factions — are aiming to secure two seats in the CSC, party sources said yesterday.
Former DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) are not running in the CEC race.
Sources said that former party secretary-general Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) and DPP Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) — both deemed to be close to Tsai — are expected to be elected to the CSC with a high number of votes.
Su Jia-chyuan could split votes from the group led by Yu, thus endangering the chances of DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) being elected to the CEC, sources said.
Su Jia-chyuan, who represented the party in the 2010 Greater Taichung mayoral election, might gain a majority of votes among party representatives based in the city, they said.
The group led by Su Tseng-chang and another former faction, the Green Friendship Alliance (綠色友誼連線) — led by DPP Central Review Committee Chairman Chen Sheng-hung (陳勝宏) — are expected to win one seat each in the CSC.
Tsai Hsien-hao (蔡憲浩), a long-term confidant of Su Tseng-chang’s, is expected to be re-elected to the CSC.
The congress is also to elect 11 members to the Central Review Committee.
Greater Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) is expected to be elected Central Review Committee chairman.
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
RSS