A pro-Taiwan alliance has begun its drive to recruit politicians loyal to former president Lee Teng-hui (
"The alliance's goal is electoral victory," said Huang Chu-wen (黃主文), a Lee loyalist and former minister of the interior. Huang added that a list of the group's members would be made public in July.
Chen Chien-ming (
Liu and Ho said they were still thinking over wether to join the group, adding that their decision would be based on the "DPP's understanding or unspoken consent." Both Liu and Ho had plans to run for public office, but failed to win their party's support in the DPP's primary in April. Liu said the alliance's prospects looked bright, and that "a total of some five or six million votes could be secured if Lee and Chen join forces."
Liu made the estimate based on the 5.5 million votes Lee won in the 1996 presidential election and the 2.2 million votes that went to the DPP's candidate, Peng Min-min (
Liu also said yesterday that the alliance's electoral strategy would be to nominate just one candidate in each constituency and to focus on winning 35 seats, including legislator-at-large.
Ho, meanwhile, said that joining an alliance close to Lee would allow him to attract former DPP supporters and would provide him a second chance to run for public office.
"The alliance has made it very clear that they will support A-bian and forge a strong political force, with some 35 legislative seats to assist the DPP government. That explains my leaving the DPP," Ho said. Echoing Ho's view, DPP legislative whip Lin Feng-hsi (林豐喜) said yesterday that "the alliance was likely to join hand in hand with the DPP after the elections." Lin added that an inter-party reorganization would likely occur after the elections, and that the DPP would form a coalition government with the alliance.
"It is also possible that these two will merge as a new political party," he said.
Independent legislator Jao yesterday flatly declined the alliance's invitation to join the group, saying that "he has no intentions of joining any alliance which was likely to provoke ideological and ethnic confrontation."
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
A Chinese ship ran aground in stormy weather in shallow waters off a Philippines-controlled island in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Filipino forces to go on alert, Philippine military officials said yesterday. When Philippine forces assessed that the Chinese fishing vessel appeared to have run aground in the shallows east of Thitu Island (Jhongye Island, 中業島) on Saturday due to bad weather, Philippine military and coast guard personnel deployed to provide help, but later saw that the ship had been extricated, Philippine navy regional spokesperson Ellaine Rose Collado said. No other details were immediately available, including if there were injuries among
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