In an effort to rein in maverick politicians that have vowed to "go it alone" in the year-end legislative elections, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is now shifting its plans to negotiate with these individuals into overdrive in an attempt to lessen the possible impact on the pan-blue alliance's election strategy.
"We will, in principle, try our best to communicate and mediate with them," said Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Three incumbent KMT legislators who lost Sunday's primary for the December legislative elections have vowed they will launch independent campaigns. Among them, KMT Legislator Tseng Tsai Mei-tsuo (
KMT Legislator Chang Tsai-mei (
Lin made no comments in response to Chang's accusation against him.
Meanwhile, Tseng Tsai yesterday reiterated her determination to run in the year-end legislative elections "to the very end."
"I think there is no way [for me to get party nomination]," said Tseng Tsai, after visiting with Lin yesterday to discuss the possibility of receiving the party's nomination.
According to Tseng Tsai, Lin said that due to primary regulations, there's no room left for her to be considered by the party for nomination.
Saying that she has been a KMT member for the past 40 years, Tseng Tsai said that she would always remain a KMT member; and that she will only leave the party if it chooses not to keep her.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,