KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
The post was left vacant by KMT incumbent, Chang fu-hsiung (
"Basically both the KMT and the PFP had reached the conclusion to together nominate one candidate for the by-election in Hualien," PFP spokesman Hwang Yih-jiau (
He added that the meeting between Soong and Lien yesterday was just part of the alliance's routine meetings.
"However, to show our respect for Chang, the alliance will not announce our candidate till the end of this month, after Chang's funeral," Hwang said.
Chang was diagnosed with lung cancer late last year and had been undergoing chemotherapy at the Veteran's General Hospital since March.
He was rushed home last Sunday night from the National Taiwan University Hospital after his condition became critical. Chang died at home.
According to the Law on Local Government Systems (
Chang, who started his four-year tenure in December 2001, had 31 more months left before the end of his term.
Premier Yu Shyi-kun announced on Tuesday that Provincial Governor Fan Kuang-chun (范光群) will serve as acting commissioner of Hualien County until a new government chief is elected.
As both the pan-green and the pan-blue camps are vying for the vacant post, the by-election can be seen as a crucial skirmish for the KMT-PFP alliance in the run-up to next March's presidential election.
The by-election in Hualien will test the combined vote-pulling strength of the two opposition parties, which announced their alliance three months ago.
Yesterday's meeting took place at the KMT-owned Pate Building -- the alliance's designated campaign headquarters for next year's presidential election for which Lien and Soong will run on a single ticket.
Aside from issues concerning the Hualien County magistrate's election, Hwang said that other matters discussed during the meeting included extending the Legislative Yuan session in order to pass the NT$50 billion job-creation program proposed by the Cabinet.
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
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