Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman-elect Ma Ying-jeou (
After losing the KMT chairmanship election to Ma last month, Wang has refused to meet the Taipei mayor, and rejected Ma's offer to allow him to retain his vice chairmanship.
FOLLOWING ORDERS
Acting on outgoing Chairman Lien Chan's (
However, it is believed that Wang, who has described himself as "an eternal volunteer for the KMT," will firmly reject Ma's invitation to assume one of four vice chairmanships of the KMT, because Wang has already accepted an appointment letter to become the chairman of the KMT's Central Review Committee provided by Lien.
Ma, who yesterday went to Taitung County and Hualien County to meet with local party members, said that he was confident that the KMT would only be more united than before after the chairmanship election that Ma referred to as "big progress" for the party.
"I know that many of our members have felt ashamed to acknowledge their KMT membership, but now they are so proud of the party's progress," Ma said.
"It is allright that, no matter who you voted for in the chairmanship election -- whether you voted for Wang or Ma -- what counts is that the KMT is the only party you support," Ma said to the audience.
NEW GENERATION
In response to suggestions from some members of employing more of the young generation in the party, Ma said that he will appoint the leader of the KMT's youth group as one of the party's chairpersons, and stressed that cultivation of youthful elite will be a major issue for the KMT. Lien's son, Lien Sheng-wen (連勝文) and vice chairman Wu Po-hsiung's (吳伯雄) son, Wu Chih-kang (吳志剛), who have both been elected as KMT delegates in Taipei, are regarded as prospective candidates to lead the youth group.
The KMT's 17th national convention, which will run on Friday and Saturday, will hold a handing-over ceremony of the chairmanship and Ma will give his inauguration speech that will announce significant declarations, including the issues on the reforms of party affairs and party assets, recruitment of new members and visions to the future, according to Chan.
The convention will also approve the appointment of the vice chairpersons nominated by Ma and an election for the party's new central members will be held. The convention will also announce that Lien is going to serve as "honorary chairmen."
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
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