Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday suggested that the party could “recruit” Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) to join the party’s presidential primary.
The party’s plan to recruit Han would be a “fair” mechanism without hurting the party or Han, Wu said in a radio interview, but added that it would not do so if Han clearly refuses to join.
Asked how the party would decide on its nominee among many candidates, he said that the KMT prefers to conduct public opinion polls, instead of just among its members.
Photo: CNA
KMT headquarters on Wednesday granted a membership certificate to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海集團) chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) for lending the party NT$45 million (US$1.46 million at the current exchange rate) in 2016 without interest, Wu said, negating allegations that the move was aimed at helping Gou resolve his questionable membership so that he could take part in the primary.
After Gou received the certificate on Wednesday, he announced that he would participate in the party’s primary, saying that he would not accept being drafted to run.
He said that if he wins, he would stand as the KMT’s presidential candidate, and that if he loses, he would support whoever is selected.
Gou did not inform the party before announcing his decision to join the primary, Wu said yesterday, denying rumors that he and former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) plotted for Gou’s participation to hinder Han.
Wu reaffirmed his objectivity, saying that he has decided not to contest the primary and that he would meet with Han, Gou and the other hopefuls — former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), KMT Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) — to discuss the primary’s rules.
Referring to Wu’s remarks on recruiting Han, Chu said that the party’s primary plan “has changed from a romance film to an action movie to a science-fiction movie.”
He urged KMT headquarters to “provide a clear mechanism for the primary” to avoid losing supporters.
Wang also demanded a clearly defined primary mechanism, saying that it would allow candidates to feel secure in launching election campaigns.
Despite playing a role in helping Han win the mayoral election in November last year, Wang said that he would respect Han’s decision if he decides to enter the primary.
Gou yesterday said on Facebook that he anticipates a fair, just and open competition for the party’s nomination, adding that he would prove himself the best candidate during the primary.
Meanwhile, Han said that as mayor, his priority is to care about Kaohsiung’s residents and boost its economic development.
Additional reporting by Lin Hsin-han, Huang Chia-lin, Wang Jung-hsiang and Cho Yi-chun
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘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
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