Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday said she would not be dissuaded from participating in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) primary for its presidential candidate, with the chances of KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) signing up for the primary said to be dimming.
Despite Hung and former minister of health Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) signing up for the primary and vowing to abide by the rules promulgated by the party, media reports have suggested that the KMT remains more concerned about those who have not signed up for the primary, including Chu, Wang and Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義).
Hung gave two radio interviews, highlighting that she is sure that the word “conscription” does not appear in the primary rules stipulated by the party.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
If Hung remains the only participant to sign up for the primary and obtains the required 15,000 signatures, she would still have to — according to the primary rules — pass a threshold of 30 percent support to win the party’s nomination, which has been dubbed “the KMT’s mechanism to stall the brick and wait for the jade (防磚待玉),” with Hung being the “brick” and Chu the “jade.”
The rules state that if a candidate fails to pass the poll threshold, the party’s central committee can advise the party against nominating that single runner.
With Yaung standing a good chance of acquiring 15,000 signatures, he said: “Even if neither of us pass the 30 percent support threshold, there is still a second round of polls — after intraparty negotiations between the candidates — and the person who garners a higher support percentage in the second poll would emerge as the winner. There is no reference to ‘conscription’ in the rules.”
Radio host Clara Chou (周玉蔻) said that even if there is no question of drafting, “there still exists the possibility of registered contenders being talked out of the race [so the party can enlist whoever it favors].”
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has two main tenets: Taiwanese independence and opposition to nuclear power. What are our party lines? On the platform provided by the primary, aspirants can engage in policy debate, and clarify and make public the party’s central beliefs,” she said.
Hung called on those who wish to run for president to go through the primary process, while describing the alleged party’s plan to resort to “drafting” as “forcing a bride into a [wedding] palanquin.”
As Saturday is the last day for KMT hopefuls to sign up for the primary, it was said that yesterday was the most appropriate day for Wang to begin his application process, as he would still need to collect signatures from at least 15,000 party members.
As of press time yesterday, there had been no sign of Wang visiting KMT headquarters to pick up an application form.
“It is said that KMT lawmakers whose constituencies are in Taipei, New Taipei City and Keelung are against Wang’s nomination, as the KMT hardliners in the north dislike Wang and the lawmakers’ own prospects of being re-elected would be negatively affected,” Chou said, asking Hung whether she could confirm the rumor.
“I could not say that it is 100 percent true, but I do feel it,” Hung said, adding that, for instance, the picture of Wang and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) showing up together at a recent event riled some “deep blue” electorates.
Next Magazine yesterday reported that Wang has deferred his plan to join the race due to objections from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is said to have misgivings about Wang because of the much-hyped political feud between the two that ended with Wang retaining his party membership.
A source from the KMT was quoted by the magazine as saying that KMT voters would not support Wang because of his alleged undue influence for [DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘)]” and that his high poll numbers have been exaggerated by DPP supporters who would not vote for him.
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS