The Jenn Lann Temple (鎮瀾宮) in Taichung’s Dajia District (大甲) yesterday became a hot spot for political campaigning by a couple of contenders for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship, as they laid out their plans for the party during their visits to the nation’s most famous Matsu temple.
Accompanied by temple vice chairman Cheng Ming-kun (鄭銘坤), former KMT vice chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) arrived at 9am to pay homage to the goddess of the sea.
The KMT needs a leader with corporate experience as it weathers difficult times, Chan said, outlining how he helped Chi Mei Medical Center and vaccine maker Adimmune Corp (國光生技) get back on their feet when he led the two companies.
Photo: CNA
“Different challenges will surface at different stages and they have to be dealt with by different people. The most important tasks for the KMT right now are crisis management and making it more in-sync with society for it to regain the public’s support,” Chan said.
If he were elected party chairman on May 20, he would work toward representing the party in the 2020 presidential election, Chan said, adding that he would be willing to take a backseat should a better candidate emerge.
Having served as minister of the now-defunct department of health and policy adviser to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Chan resigned as KMT vice chairman earlier this month, reportedly due to his disapproval of KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu’s (洪秀柱) handling of the thorny party assets issue.
Hours later, KMT Vice Chairman and former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) arrived at the temple, accompanied by several high-profile politicians, including former Taichung mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), temple chairman Yen Ching-piao (顏清標), and scores of Taichung city councilors and local borough wardens.
Hau said he would not run for the presidency in 2020 if elected KMT chairman and would respect different opinions.
Hau said he intends to move the party toward collective leadership, facilitate integration between the KMT’s legislative caucus and local city and county council caucuses, and push for a generational change in the party.
“The most important goal is for the party to regain power and ensure its victory in the 2018 local elections and the 2020 presidential race,” Hau said.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the