Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Wednesday said that he would not be meeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) before April 17, derailing the leadership’s plan to avoid a contentious presidential primary.
To be able to draft Han as its uncontested candidate, the KMT needs to obtain his consent prior to April 17, when the party is scheduled to announce the rules and schedule of the presidential primary.
Han had publicly refused the party’s offer on multiple occasions.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
Although Wu earlier that morning told reporters that he was to have a face-to-face conference with Han today, multiple sources said that Han declined and offered to meet Wu after April 18, when he returns from a trip to the US.
KMT spokesman Ouyang Lung (歐陽龍) confirmed the reports on the sidelines of a meeting of the KMT Central Standing Committee on Wednesday afternoon, saying Han had conveyed his intentions to KMT Vice Chairman Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權).
Ouyang added that the party has not arranged for a meeting between Wu and Han when Wu visits Kaohsiung tomorrow.
Asked about Han’s response, Wu said that he was still trying to persuade the Kaohsiung mayor.
“The party intends to nominate the most popular and capable candidates for the presidential and legislative elections next year,” Wu said.
Wu is to confer with the party’s presidential hopefuls to hammer out an agreement about Han’s nomination.
He is to meet former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) on Sunday, KMT Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) on Monday and former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) on Tuesday.
Asked about the meeting with Wu, Chu’s office yesterday issued a statement saying that Chu hoped the meeting would be held in public.
Chu fully supports the KMT leadership in its efforts, whether it is to draft Han or to hold a primary election and, as such, he has nothing to discuss with Wu, the office said.
Additional reporting by Ke Yun-hao and Chen Yun
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
RSS