Chances are increasing that Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) will announce a bid for president, according to sources close to Wang.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) representative in Kaohsiung Lee Po-jung (李柏融) said that Wang has started to motivate his staff and will be convening party members this week to initiate the signature drive required to run for the KMT presidential nomination.
Wang has remained equivocal about his intentions.
Photo: Su Meng-chuan, Taipei Times
“I’m not saying that I will run, but I’m not saying I will not, either,” Wang said yesterday.
Wang was at China Medical University in Taichung yesterday to receive an honorary doctorate.
During the ceremony, Academia Sinica’s Lo Hao (羅浩), another honorary doctorate recipient, said that while he has become Wang’s “schoolmate,” Wang would probably be a president next year; a quip that brought a round of laughter from audience members.
Wang said he has been busy in the legislature recently, reiterating that he remained undecided.
When asked about New Taipei City Mayor and KMT Chairman Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) declaration on Friday that he would not make a bid for next year’s election, Wang said he respects Chu’s decision.
When asked whether it would possible for him to work with People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), Wang said he and Soong have worked together on many issues.
Former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bing (郝龍斌), who on Thursday said Chu was “in deep contemplation” over the possibility of running for president, was at the KMT’s office in Kaohsiung on Friday.
Political observers said that it seems Hau is watching Wang closely for any developments over a possible announcement of a presidential bid.
Kaohsiung City Farmers’ Association secretary-general Hsiao Han-chun (蕭漢俊) said that Wang’s possible goal of vying for the nation’s top job meets the expectations of many members of farmers’ and fishermen’s associations.
Once it is confirmed that Wang is to run, not only would Kaohsiung’s fishermen’s association respond to his campaign needs, the farmers’ associations across the nation, which have received aid from Wang, would join the effort and collect signatures for him, Hsiao said.
Since last month, Wang has been invited to attend events almost every weekend. The southern counties and cities have been particularly enthusiastic, party sources said.
The events include meetings with KMT members and gatherings with city and county associations, women’s associations, charity groups and major temple festivals.
Many of Kaohsiung’s KMT councilors and legislators believe that the time is ripe for Wang to announce his intention to run for president, party sources said, adding that an official declaration could be made this week.
Meanwhile, KMT Kaohsiung City chapter director Hsu Fu-ming (許福明) said the office would follow the nomination procedure promulgated by the party, accepting applications from those who want to sign up.
As for Wang’s intentions, “I am not in a position to comment,” Hsu said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)