Taipei City Mayor and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
"I have emptied my schedule for [today] to attend," said Ma, ending his long silence about the issue while responding to rumors that he is seeking to ease tensions between him and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
Over 100,000 people are expected to participate in today's march, KMT officials said yesterday. The event, entitled the "Democracy, Peace and Truth" march, is organized by pan-blue special interest groups such as the Democratic Action Alliance and the 319 Action Committee. The aim of the march is to demonstrate the pan-blue camp's dissatisfaction with the investigation into the election-eve assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian (
The assassination attempt, which the pan-blue camp claims was staged by the pan-green camp to win the presidential election, sparked a violent, week-long protest by pan-blue supporters on Ketagalan Boulevard last year.
The march will start at the Sungshan tobacco factory (
While Ma and his fellow KMT vice chairman and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
While Soong has refrained in recent weeks from saying whether he would attend, the PFP chairman said it is doubtful he would do so.
Soong's recent silence might seem surprising, given he and his party's active involvement in the protests a year ago. But in light of the recent friendly relations between the PFP and the Chen administration, analysts say it would not be surprising if Soong shuns the event.
Despite his apparent reluctance to join in the march, Soong was said to have criticized Ma as having shown "cowardice when there is a need to protest" during last year's election turmoil and as "having no room for forgiveness."
Raising a flurry of media speculation as to whether Soong prefers Ma or Wang as the next KMT chairman, journalist and political commentator Fan Li-ta (
Speaking as a guest on the TVBS talk show News Night Club, Fan said that Soong had said, "Ma has no eyes and no brain. How can he win [the KMT chairmanship election]?"
Fan's comments about a phone call between him and the PFP chairman were confirmed by party spokesman Hsieh Kung-pin (
During a meeting with reporters yesterday, Ma said that he had tried to contact Soong three times this week since hearing of the comments to initiate a meeting with Soong. However, he was told by PFP Secretary-General Chin Chin-shen (
As part of the "anniversary" protest against the handling of the shooting investigation, the 319 Action Committee was set to hold candle-lit vigil at midnight last night. Over 50 members of the group, along with Yok and Wang were expected to attend.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost