Deputy Secretary-General to the President Joseph Wu (
Wu, who said he has been a KMT member since he was young, said he would join the DPP next month, when the party is set to hold a ceremony to present the political appointees that it has recruited.
The party has been trying to increase its talent base by recruiting senior members of the government.
Several have already agreed to join, including Council for Cultural Affairs Vice Chairman Wu Mi-cha (吳密察), Council of Labor Affairs Vice Chairman Kuo Chi-jen (郭吉仁), Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通), Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (林陵三) and Public Construction Commission Chairwoman Kuo Yao-chi (郭瑤琪).
Wu was a guest at a dinner organized by Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Shih-meng (
Also on the guest list were Lin, Kuo, Wu Mi-cha, Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (
Asked whether she would join the party, Kuo said she was a political appointee designated by the ruling party, thus "joining the party is in line with the spirit of party politics."
When asked by reporters about the recruitment drive, President Chen Shui-bian (
However, Chen Shih-meng (
"Their decisions will not affect the performance of their duties," he said.
The foreign minster yesterday ruled out the DPP's invitation to join the party, saying that diplomatic affairs have unique characteristics.
"Keeping my political affiliation independent will benefit those affairs to a certain degree," Chien said.
Chien was a KMT member until January last year, when he let his membership lapse.
Vice Premier Lin Hsin-yi (林信義) and Lin Chuan (林全), head of the Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics, have also decided not to join the DPP.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
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