Two Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential hopefuls yesterday called on the party to make a decision about how to handle its primary to choose a candidate for next year’s election.
KMT Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who served as legislative speaker for 17 years, said that the party’s mercurial approach to nomination regulations made it difficult to comment or react, while former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) said that regardless of the options, the party must decide soon.
As long as a candidate is chosen fairly, everyone would support the decision, Wang added.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
They were responding to a series of comments by KMT officials, such as KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) insinuation on Saturday last week that the party would consider drafting Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) as a potential candidate.
KMT Organizational Development Committee director Lee Che-hua (李哲華) on Wednesday proposed that the party sit down with Chu and Wang for “pre-primary negotiations” about listing Han among them in public opinion polls and party member surveys, as Han is unlikely to register for the primary himself.
Chu said that he would not rule out support for drafting Han if it is the best option for the party.
However, Lee’s proposal would cause others who have dropped the idea of running to reconsider, Chu said, naming Taipei City Councilor Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強), former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫偉) and Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) as examples.
Lee yesterday said that his proposal would prevent the possibility of the KMT National Congress selecting another candidate over the person who won the party primary.
“We would have liked for Chu and Wang to consider including Han as a possible candidate, as it would mean that regardless of who prevails, the party has selected its best candidate,” Lee said.
However, if Wang and Chu will not settle matters via negotiations, then the primary would continue as planned, Lee added.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS