The celebration of the 120th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — held in Greater Taichung yesterday — sent a clear message that the party is emphasizing election results from central Taiwan.
The joint entrance of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who doubles as KMT chairman; Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), who is seeking re-election; Nantou County commissioner candidate Legislator Lin Ming-chen (林明溱); and Changhua County commissioner candidate Legislator Lin Tsang-min (林滄敏) demonstrated the region’s importance to the party.
All featured in the closing scene, turning on a “great wheel symbolizing the turning of the tide for central Taiwan,” which also attempted to emphasize that only by voting for KMT candidates would residents of the region see a better future.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“We hope the party will win in the upcoming elections, continuing its reforms and paving the path to winning the 2016 presidential elections,” Ma said as a “birthday wish” for the party.
Governmental policies have caused an increase of international tourists to central Taiwan, reaching 8 million compared with the 3.7 million when the KMT came to power more than seven years ago, Ma said.
Ma added that Nantou County received more subsidies under the KMT government than under the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), saying that most of the funding was due to Lin Ming-chen’s successful negotiations.
Photo: CNA
The party believes that the tourism industry in Nantou County will certainly prosper under Lin Ming-chen, Ma said.
Earlier yesterday, Ma also visited Chiayi City in an effort to campaign for Chiayi mayoral candidate Chen Yi-chen (陳以真) and KMT city council candidates, but the event was an awkward leg of the journey: Chen was a no-show, while just three city council candidates made an appearance.
While some KMT supporters said Chen’s absence was a show of disrespect and could be taken as proof that Chen was seeking to distance herself from the president, Chiayi Mayor Huang Min-hui (黃敏惠), a KMT member, said Chen’s vacancy was simply due to a clash between schedules.
Later yesterday, Ma arrived in Greater Tainan to campaign for mayoral candidate Huang Hsiu-shuang (黃秀霜), who is president National Tainan University, before visiting Greater Kaohsiung to campaign for the KMT’s Greater Kaohsiung mayoral candidate, Minister Without Portfolio Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興).
Additional reporting by Chen Hsin-jen and Wang Shan-yen
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Friday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US