Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
For the first time since the KMT chairmanship election, Ma said that he would respect Wang's wish to step down as one of the party's vice chairman. Ma said he "temporarily respects" Wang's decision, but the job would be held open for him.
Wang did agree, however, to take up the job of the president of the presidium of the KMT's Central Evaluation Committee.
PHOTO: JIAN RONG-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES
The two men met for 50 minutes behind closed doors at Wang's official residence on Chungching S Road.
Afterwards, they told reporters that they had agreed to cooperate on controversial legislation and other topics, such as the arms-procurement budget, the flood-control bill and confirmation of President Chen Shui-bian's (
Ma said he took advantage of the meeting to explain four items believed to have sabotaged relations between the two men during the election and contributed to Wang's defeat.
Ma said that the "black gold" remarks made by his campaign office were not targeted at Wang, but were meant to emphasize the party's long-term commitment to combat "black gold" politics.
He said that he had never doubted for a second that Wang is a strong opponent of independence.
Ma said that the issue of alleged fake party members in the Yunlin chapter had nothing to do with Wang because the chapter was later punished for its negligence in handling the matter.
Regarding vote-buying allegations, Ma said that there was no evidence to prove that Wang's campaign office was involved in any way.
Apparently still upset by the vote-buying allegation, Wang said the accusation on the day of the election was groundless and false.
"I told Ma that the footage run repeatedly on TV that day was similar to the coverage of the March 19 election-eve assassination attempt," he said, referring to last year's shooting of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮).
Wang said that he has never asked Ma to apologize for anything but misunderstandings must be straightened out. He said that he would do his best, as a party member, to help Ma in the future.
"I think his apologies are addressed to the wrong person," Wang said, adding that "We should just put bad feelings behind us and move on."
Describing their talk as "amicable," the two men agreed that the meeting marked the beginning of a more cooperative relationship.
Both, however, refused to discuss the 2008 presidential election.
"Let's talk about it in 2007," Ma said.
Earlier yesterday, Wang told a radio program host that he did not expect another KMT member to challenge Ma to be the party's presidential candidate. He also said that it had never crossed his mind to seek the presidency.
Ma later said that Wang still stood a chance at running in 2008 because the chairmanship election does not guarantee the party's nomination for the presidential election.
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
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
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
RSS