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 batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
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About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,