Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (
The three local government chiefs, considered heavyweights of the KMT's "middle gen-eration," were in Chungli township, Taoyuan County, yesterday to launch a joint advertising campaign for lantern exhibitions related to the Lantern Festival next Saturday.
The trio's appearance together reinforced speculation that the KMT's middle generation was gaining power relative to the older generation led by KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
Addressing the heated topic of who will represent the KMT and the PFP on a joint ticket for the presidential election now that the two parties have agreed to cooperate, Hu made his own suggestion using words from Ma's, Chu's and his own names.
"Ma and Chu would make a "Ying-Lun ticket," he said, creating a name that sounds like "English" in Chinese.
"In that case, I definitely have to join the two because I studied in England before, and that would make the three of us a super combination as `Ma-Li-Chiang' [powerful]," said Hu, whose Chinese name is Hu Chi-chiang.
In response to media reports that the get-together of the three politicians symbolized solidifying cooperation between the party's middle-generation forces, Ma said, "The media has overstated this gathering, which is simply an activity to promote the Lantern Festival."
Dressed up like the God of Fortune, the three local government chiefs unveiled some of the lanterns that will be exhibited in the regions they administer. Each lantern featured goats, the animal of the zodiac of the new lunar year.
The national Taiwan Lantern Exhibition will be held in Tai-chung City from tomorrow until Feb. 23. The lantern exhibition in Taoyuan County will be held from today until Feb. 16, and in Taipei City from tomorrow until Feb. 23.
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