Only two of three candidates for the KMT Central Standing Committee election from "Ma troop" -- Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) top aides and supporters -- won seats on the party's key 31-member decision-making body.
The two successful candidates were KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (
Former deputy Taipei mayor Ou Chin-de (
KMT Legislator Hung Yu-chin (
Legislators made up more than half of those elected, including legislative caucus head Pan Wei-kang (
Incumbent committee member Lien Sheng-wen (
A total of 106 candidates ran in the election, and 1,395 party delegates cast their votes around the country.
Ma yesterday denied that the party had prepared a list of preferred committee members before the election, and restated his determination to wipe out bribery in the party's elections.
"There are many ways of campaigning in the elections for central committee members ... The party does not nominate or promote any candidates. We don't have preferred candidates, either," he said after casting his vote at KMT headquarters.
The KMT has revised its regulations, requiring that candidates not send out gifts or buy votes in elections.
During the campaign period, three candidates had to withdraw because of bribery allegations.
"I can't say that the election was 100 percent [clean], but I think we made big progress compared with past elections," Ma said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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