Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Speaking in response to rumors in the media that there are people within the KMT acting to make such a proposal in the near future, Ma said that he plans to make the proposal in August at the KMT's National Congress meeting.
"I originally made the suggestion in April. It is likely I will propose it again at the meeting," Ma said yesterday in response to media rumors while campaigning for the party chairmanship.
Yesterday, a Chinese-language newspaper said there was movement within the KMT to propose the creation of an honorary chairmanship position, to pander to those hoping for Lien's re-election as party chairman.
While Lien has said on a number of occasions that he is not considering running in the July 16 chairmanship election, a growing number of KMT supporters have called on him to stay on.
Lien, the movement's supporters claim, is the only person who can keep the pan-blue camp united during the competition between chairmanship candidates Ma and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
The newspapers yesterday reported that Ma might be planning to make the proposal in the KMT's weekly Central Standing Committee meeting this Wednesday.
Ma originally made the proposal that an honorary chairmanship position be created and then given to Lien in April, when he formally announced his candidacy.
Given Lien's contributions to the party during his time in office, Ma said in April, he would suggest that the KMT's party bylaws be amended to allow the creation of a honorary chairman position, which would be presented to Lien. At the time, the suggestion was seen as a move by Ma to pacify the fledgling movement rooting for Lien's continuation as chairman.
Speaking in response to these rumors, Wang said yesterday that he too considers an honorary chairmanship for Lien a good idea.
"There is that need," Wang told reporters yesterday.
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
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
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai