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.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
RSS