Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
Accompanied by senior party officials, Lien and Soong held an hour-long closed-door meeting at the KMT headquarters at noon.
Describing Lien and Soong's discussion at a press conference afterwards, KMT spokesman Chang Jung-kung (
"Lien and Soong are very concerned about election campaigns," the KMT's Chang said. "They said each party should work out its vote allocation plan and that they should meet again shortly before the election to discuss how they can coordinate each side's plans."
Chang attacked the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government's performance and said the KMT and PFP need to strengthen cooperation in order to allow the will of the Taiwanese people to be heard in the election.
Lien and Soong, said Chang, are "cautiously optimistic" about the outcome of the legislative campaign. "But both parties have to careful because our rival [the DPP] has lots of tricks," Chang added.
PFP spokesman Hsieh Kong-ping (
In related news, in an ironic gesture against President Chen Shui-bian's (
Lifting boards bearing the phrase "soft turn-in," PFP lawmakers, Liu Wen-hsiung (
"According to Chen's reasoning, demonstrations such as the rallies at the Ketagalan Boulevard immediately after the presidential election and the protest outside the Central Election Commission, can all be considered `soft coups,'" Liu said. "In this case, I am indeed a part of the coups since I was participating in most of these demonstrations."
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
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
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