Speculation mounted yesterday on possible tensions between the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) two 2008 presidential hopefuls over the party's plan to change its nomination system for at-large legislators.
Under the KMT's nomination system, the list of legislator-at-large nominees is decided by a nine-seat committee appointed by the party chairman. The committee's nominees must receive a vote of confidence from the party's 210-seat Central Committee.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday confirmed media reports that the party has been considering a change to this system ahead of next year's legislative elections.
"We are planning to have the legislator-at-large nominees selected by the party's local representatives, which is a more democratic method than the current one," Ma said.
The Chinese-language United Daily News reported yesterday that the changes were directed at Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who secured the first nomination for a KMT at-large legislative seat.
But Wang played down the report, saying that such talk aimed to damage relations between the two party bigwigs.
"I don't think that the changes are directed at me. But if they are, I wouldn't be the only one they are directed at," Wang said yesterday when asked to comment on the changes.
Wang, touted as a possible presidential candidate for 2008, added that he had many options besides another campaign for a legislative seat.
"As party chairman, of course I would like to choose the legislator-at-large nominees myself. But since that is not democratic, we have to have a new system that allows more people to participate in the nomination," Ma said.
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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