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."
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
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