Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Yesterday morning, Ma first went to Taipei County to promote Wu Yu-sheng (
Ma's last activity, which was originally reserved for independent candidate Lin Cheng-hsiu (
According to KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (
"Ma won't go for him. Running advertisements to attack partners violates the pan-blue's principles," Lin Fong-cheng said to ERA TV News.
As of press time, Ma had not reversed his decision.
Tu Chien-teh (
"Ma has his own judgment, because the voice of party members at basic levels had been passed on to him through local branches," Tu said.
Ma yesterday did his best to recommend KMT candidates, stressing his long political history associating with the party. Ma even played the role of a peacemaker, mediating quarrels among KMT candidates, including Pan Wei-kang (
When Ma carried out street campaign activities with KMT Spokesman Alex Tsai (蔡正元) in Neihu District yesterday afternoon, Ma called for the cooperation of all voters for the party.
"KMT supporters have to work together in the elections. We can't afford to miss any ballots," Ma said.
According to Ma's office, Ma has attended 230 campaign activities since September 10, when he began to assist pan-blue candidates. Among them, 165 events were for 70 KMT candidates throughout the nation, while 37 activities were for 25 PFP candidates. As for four candidates in the pan-blue political spectrum who are either independent or from other small parties, such as New Party, Ma only spared them about 5.6 percent of his time for 12 events.
Ma's assistants stressed yesterday that beginning mid-October, Ma has accepted all invitations from all pan-blue candidates but still put those from KMT and PFP on his top priority.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
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