Former Premier Frank Hsieh (
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Shih-chien (
Although the DPP has targeted Hsieh from the beginning as the party's ideal candidate for the Taipei election, Hsieh has repeatedly said that he has no intention of running. The DPP ended up in an embarrassing situation as no candidate came forward to register for the party primary last month.
Stance softened
Wang noted that when he called on Hsieh on Monday, Hsieh asked him about his views on joining the Taipei mayoral election and he felt that Hsieh's insistence that he would not run had softened.
Wang said Hsieh has a great attachment to the DPP, noting that he took part in the drafting of the party's name and platform when it was founded in 1986.
However, in view of the party's slipping approval rating following a spate of corruption allegations involving President Chen Shui-bian's (
It would be positive for the DPP if the party could hang on to its seats in the city councilor elections, he added.
Whether elected or not, Hsieh would then probably be shut out of the 2008 presidential election, he said.
Morale boost
DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun echoed Wang's views, saying that Hsieh's participation would give the morale of the party a great boost, as Hsieh has a broad base of support among grassroots supporters.
Saying that Hsieh had often taken on the most daunting tasks for the party during its most difficult times, Yu expressed his admiration for him.
Yu also lauded Hsieh's "Kaohsiung experience," which he claimed could contribute a great deal to the development of Taipei.
He claimed Taipei's development had been "very limited" over the past eight years since President Chen lost his re-election bid as Taipei mayor in 1998, adding that if Hsieh could serve as Taipei mayor, he would not only save the floundering party but would also put the city "on a par with other metropolises."
The donation of offshore patrol vessel Kinmen to the Philippines includes provisions that protect Taiwanese fishers and facilitate security cooperation across the First Island Chain, officials said yesterday. The comment was made during the Cabinet’s comprehensive administrative report at the legislature after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) expressed concerns about the decision to give a ship to a country whose coast guard had in 2013 fired on a Taiwanese trawler and killed its captain without provocation. The Cabinet should lay out the safeguards that have been established to prevent the Philippine government from using the Kinmen to harass, expel
GROWING TIES: The CGA is planning a goodwill mission to the Philippines, in what would be the first time since 1975 a Taiwanese paramilitary vessel has visited the country The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) plans to significantly expand its participation in international security cooperative frameworks and its operational capabilities, a budget proposal for next year showed. The budget indicates a transformation of the CGA from a maritime law enforcement arm into a national defense and intelligence gathering entity capable of tackling larger regional security matters. The proposal showed that personnel from the coast guard’s Intelligence Division and Special Action Support Center are to participate in high-level national security talks with the US. As the CGA has dealt with China’s rising “gray zone” threats around Taiwan, it has become a valuable asset to
A patrol vessel donated by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) to the Philippines was commissioned into the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday, a Philippine non-governmental organization said. The CGA on Sept. 16 confirmed media reports that Taiwan had donated a retired 500-tonne patrol vessel to the Philippines. The Manila-based We Protect Our Seas (WPS) foundation, which served as an intermediary in the transfer, said that the vessel was formerly the CGA’s 500-tonne petrol vessel Kinmen (CG123). The WPS, in a statement issued on Friday, said the vessel, renamed as the BRP Sarangani, had been commissioned into the PCG the
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: Beijing sent two China Coast Guard vessels to escort a ‘supposedly private research ship,’ a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman said The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday confirmed that it had recently deployed three patrol vessels to waters in Taiwan’s overlapping exclusive economic zone with the Philippines to monitor three Chinese vessels. CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said the agency regularly monitors Chinese vessels around Taiwan, and that the deployment south of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, was carried out in accordance with standard procedures. He added that the waters fall within the overlapping exclusive economic zones of Taiwan and the Philippines, which extend 200 nautical miles (370km) from their coastlines. Hsieh made the comments when asked about a
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