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."
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
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