Former president Lee Teng-hui (
The rally is scheduled for Sept. 1 in Kaohsiung City, Su Chin-chang (
"Lee will bring a secret guest who is a heavyweight in the KMT to join him in boosting our legislative candidates at the rally," Su said. He added that Lee has promised to attend all of the TSU's major rallies to be held in Kaohsiung, Taichung and Taipei in the lead up to the December legislative elections.
The party is fielding 39 candidates in the year-end polls.
Continuing to play the "Lee Teng-hui card," the TSU yesterday unveiled merchandise such as stationery and T-shirts that bear the former president's photograph and name. The party plans to sell the memorabilia to raise campaign funds.
Lee's attendance at the rally will likely lead to more calls from KMT conservatives to oust its former chairman from the party. So far, the KMT has remained quiet on whether it will punish Lee, fearing a backlash from his supporters.
Lee yesterday told reporters that he wouldn't be angry or disappointed with the KMT if the party expelled him.
Lee made his remarks after meeting with US House Repre-sentative Henry Hyde at the Grand Hotel yesterday.
Answering reporters' questions about whether he would take the initiative to leave the KMT, Lee simply asked, "How?"
KMT central headquarters' remained silent on the issue yesterday despite calls from some party members to expel Lee immediately.
KMT lawmaker Hung Hsiu-chu (
KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
The party is hesitant to punish Lee because the former president is highly popular with many Taiwanese. Expelling him could cost the party votes in the upcoming election.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more