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.
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
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