With the struggle heating up within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) over who will be the party's candidate for Taipei County Commissioner, the New Party yesterday pledged to support KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (
After Hung's campaign visit to the New Party's headquarters in Taipei Friday, New Party Chairman Yok Yu-ming (郁慕明) and party Secretary-General Lee Seng-fong (李勝峰) campaigned with Hung in Taipei County yesterday.
"Having the New Party's support shows that I am the one with the ability to unite the pan-blues," Hung said yesterday.
In order to woo the New Party's support and convince pan-blue camp supporters of her worthiness, Hung paid a personal visit to Yok Friday to solicit his support for her bid.
During his visit with Hung, Yok said that he hopes that Hung will win the KMT nomination and lead the KMT to a victory in Taipei County.
Hung and Yok were members of the New KMT Alliance (
The New Party's support may prove crucial in Hung's effort to prove she has the mettle to become the party's candidate for Taipei County Commissioner.
She faces stiff competition from four other party hopefuls: KMT Legislator Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), Sanchung Mayor Lee Chien-lung (李乾龍), former minister of justice Liao Cheng-hao (廖正豪) and Wang Lin-huei (王玲惠), head of the Taipei County Federation of Chinese Businesswomen.
Hung's bid has been relatively overlooked given Chou's news-making defection from the People First Party to the KMT, or Liao's surprise registration.
Hung hinted yesterday that the party's polls weren't necessarily a good indicator of which candidate would best be able to unite the pan-blue camp in Taipei County, emphasizing that such a candidate was the necessary if the pan-blue want to win back Taipei County.
The KMT's party primary for Taipei County Commissioner is on June 5, along with those for Ilan, Changhua and Yunlin Counties and Tainan City.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19