People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) yesterday denied rumors that he is looking into running for president in 2008.
Without saying clearly that he had absolutely no intention of running in 2008, Soong told reporters yesterday that comments he made on Saturday night were about helping his party campaign for the year-end mayoral and county magistrate elections, not the 2008 presidential election.
"The doctors have said that I am physically well, so I can help our many friends in their campaign efforts for the year-end elections," Soong told reporters yesterday.
physically fit
Soong said on Saturday night that his most recent medical report indicated that he was physically fit and able to continue "entering election[s]," which the media speculated yesterday could have been a reference to Soong's possible desire to run in the 2008 presidential election.
Adding to the speculation, Soong also said on Saturday night that he "must [be] make[-ing] some people nervous" by letting them realize that they can't take advantage of him.
Media rumors had it that Soong is finding it difficult to work up the motivation and energy to take up another term at his party's helm when his term ends this year, pointing to his late registration for the party's July chairmanship election as an indication of his reluctance.
Fellow pan-blue leaders such as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (
Anyone is welcome to run in 2008, so long as they qualify, Ma said yesterday when questioned by reporters.
criticism
While Soong, who is running unchallenged in his party's chairmanship race, has remained largely out of the spotlight since his party's loss in the National Assembly elections last month, Soong yesterday openly criticized the Chen Shui-bian (
"Does this society still have the ability to take care of the issues that the people are concerned about? Think about it, if the whole world knows that American beef has problems, then why wasn't our government able to take the pressure [from the Americans] and opened our market [to the beef]?" Soong said yesterday.
The government reinstated a ban on imports of US beef on Saturday after the US Department of Agriculture confirmed a second case of mad-cow disease. The original ban on US beef was lifted in April this year.
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
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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