The KMT's election campaign heated up yesterday as the party's Taipei chapter launched the "KMT Youth Corps," with the aim of promoting its candidates for the December elections.
Addressing the 600 young people perched on motor scooters outside the Taipei City Council yesterday morning, KMT Vice Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) said that young people are playing an important role in the reform of the KMT.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"They're valuable assets and the driving force behind the party's reform and resurrection," he said.
Members of the youth corps will campaign on their scooters for the party.
Wu added that Taiwanese people had come to understand over the past year and a half since the DPP came to power that Taiwan cannot move forward without the KMT.
"Only the new KMT can lead the nation out of the current economic and social hardship," he said.
Wu also called on the public to support the KMT's legislative candidates.
"None of the KMT candidates nominated for the year-end legislative elections has any connection with black gold politics and they therefore deserve the people's trust," he said.
The party has nominated a total of eight candidates to run in Taipei City constituencies.
The four candidates nominated for the city's northern constituency are deputy chief of the party's cultural affairs department, Tsai Cheng-yuan (
The other four, nominated for the southern constituency, are incumbent lawmakers Apollo Chen (陳學聖), Chen Horng-chi (陳鴻基) and Tina Pan (潘維剛); and John Chang (章孝嚴), a former KMT secretary-general and foreign minister.
After some candidates delivered pep talks, the eight candidates were presented with a giant mock check, symbolizing their campaign promises and encouraging them to be focused, professional and disciplined in the election campaign.
Wu also presented flags to the 12 team captains leading the scooter riders, symbolizing the beginning of the party's campaign activities.
The teams, which are comprised of both KMT members and non-members, were recruited from the Taipei chapter of the KMT Youth Commission.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it