While Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has announced her registration for the party’s presidential primary for next year’s election, the situation is not entirely clear in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), where KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) are the most eye-catching duo.
Tsai registered for the DPP’s presidential primary yesterday.
Meanwhile, KMT party spokesperson Charles Chen (陳以信) said the party would make an announcement about potential candidates after discussions to be held after the Lunar New Year.
The KMT, challenged by a major setback in last year’s nine-in-one election, has remained low-profile about next year’s presidential race.
Succeeding President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as the new party chairman, Chu has worked on party reforms, completing the tasks of restructuring the party’s Evaluation and Discipline Committee, think tank and local party offices.
Despite Chu’s promise when he ran for party chairman that he would not join next year’s race, a party official who declined to be named said the KMT could launch a bottom-up initiative encouraging Chu’s candidacy and therefore he would not rule out Chu’s running for president on the KMT ticket.
Wang, another possible KMT candidate, had dismissed speculation that he plans to announce his candidacy after the Lunar New Year.
However, most recently, he said: “[I am] not thinking about the matter at this point; maybe later,” which has since elicited extensive speculation.
Vice President Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) next move also has the public’s attention, but the party official said that since Wu once said that he was the vice chairman appointed by Ma the chairman — meaning that he would play only the role of Ma’s deputy — it is not likely that Wu would join the race.
The party official said that it is rare for both the main opposition party and the ruling party to launch presidential primaries before the Lunar New Year, adding that it is more that the DPP started early than that the KMT is slow.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
South Korea yesterday said that it was removing loudspeakers used to blare K-pop and news reports to North Korea, as the new administration in Seoul tries to ease tensions with its bellicose neighbor. The nations, still technically at war, had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. It said in June that Pyongyang stopped transmitting bizarre, unsettling noises along the border that had become a major nuisance for South Korean residents, a day after South Korea’s loudspeakers fell silent. “Starting today, the military has begun removing the loudspeakers,”
RSS