Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (
Blue is the color associated with the KMT and its People First Party (PFP) ally.
"I have been a loyal member of the KMT in the past, and that's what I am now and will be in the future," Hu told a press conference while wearing KMT stickers on his face.
"I am curious to know how the rumor came about saying that I am cozying up to the pan-green camp and that my political stance is shaking," said Hu, who is also director of the KMT-PFP alliance's Taichung campaign office.
In an effort to prove his blue credentials, Hu was splashed with green paint to symbolize the allegations he was leaning toward the pan-green camp. Hu then removed his green-stained jacket to reveal a blue T-shirt.
Hu was recently featured in a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) TV campaign ad which showed footage of the Taichung mayor approving of the DPP's efforts to develop the city.
In response to the ad, Hu said that the DPP had misused his statement and that the DPP should have asked for his permission before incorporating his remarks into the ad.
Noting that the support rates for President Chen Shui-bian's (
In return, Lien yesterday spoke of his recognition of Hu's efforts in the presidential campaign and accused the DPP of trying to sow discord among pan-blue members.
"I think it is clear to all that [the DPP] has been resorting to all sorts of tricks in an attempt to drive a wedge between the mem-bers of the KMT-PFP alliance," said Lien, who has joined with his PFP counterpart James Soong (
"All of our [pan-blue] local chiefs have all been wholeheartedly engaged in the alliance's campaign work," Lien said. "And their efforts are much appreciated."
Meanwhile, the pan-blue alliance yesterday released another TV campaign ad promoting the Lien-Soong ticket.
The ad featured an office worker who sparked a series of increasingly serious mishaps because he missed the trash can when attempting to shoot a piece of garbage into it.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
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Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard