The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate yesterday poured scorn on a proposal from the People First Party (PFP) that the two opposition groups should conduct a survey to decide the pan-blue camp's candidate for the Taipei race.
"Since I was elected as KMT's candidate through its primary, which was held in a democratic way, I am more legitimate than anyone [else] to represent the party," Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday in the legislature.
The KMT chose Hau as its candidate in a party primary on Sunday after he won 60 percent of the vote from party members and Taipei residents, beating Legislator Ting Shou-chung (
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES
Hau visited the KMT caucus yesterday to seek support, he said, since most of his votes on Sunday came from non-party members.
After the primary, PFP Chairman James Soong (
"It seemed to me that the suggestion was `green room politics' [closed-door negotiations]. While I didn't get many votes among party members, I am the legitimate KMT candidate," Hau said.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said on Monday the party would consider Soong's suggestion and a resolution acceptable to both parties could be adopted.
KMT Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), who withdrew from the primary late last month, said Sunday's results should be respected.
"Some tensions among party members during the primary process were unavoidable, but I urge pan-blue supporters to back Hau and respect the result of the primary," he said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard