Hopes that the country's two main opposition parties would be able to field a single candidate for the year-end Taipei mayoral race were dashed yesterday as People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
Swamped by PFP legislators, city councilors and supporters, Soong registered his candidacy with the Taipei Municipal Election Committee, announcing that he was temporarily leaving the party for the election while declining to confirm whether or not there would be room for further negotiations.
"I am in no position to comment on the issue ... I already took a leave of absence from the PFP and do not represent the party now," Soong said at the committee's office.
PHOTO: CNA
In an effort to prevent a repeat of the 1994 Taipei mayoral election, when two pan-blue candidates split the vote, giving the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) a surprise victory, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has been negotiating with the PFP, hoping to dissuade Soong from competing with the party's Taipei mayoral candidate Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌).
Asked whether or not he would accept any deals and make way for the KMT, Soong reiterated his determination to run in the election and downplayed the issue of pan-blue unity.
"Pan-blue voters worry about losing the election to the pan-green camp due to a split, but is the election all about winning? Keelung Mayor Hsu Tsai-li (
Hsu ran as KMT candidate and won in the Keelung mayoral election last December over his PFP counterpart Liu Wen-hsiung (
Ma yesterday reiterated that the KMT would continue to negotiate with the PFP on the issue, but acknowledged that negotiations have not been smooth.
"We've talked to the PFP many times directly or indirectly, but they are not satisfied with some of the conditions," he said while attending a municipal event.
While the KMT wanted to dissuade Soong from joining the election through negotiations, Soong has refused to budge and instead asked Ma during their closed-door meeting to dissuade Hau, according to KMT Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (
Facing a declining support rate with Soong and Independent Legislator Li Ao (李敖) splitting the pan-blue support base, Hau yesterday said his main opponent would still be DPP Taipei candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), and that he would leave the issue of KMT-PFP negotiations for the party to handle.
"As a mayoral candidate, what I should do now is to spare no efforts to win the election," Hau told the press yesterday at his campaign headquarters.
Meanwhile, the pan-green camp is also facing the threat of a split as the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday refused to negotiate with the DPP on fielding one candidate in the Kaohsiung mayoral election.
The DPP's candidate is former Council of Labor Affairs chairwoman Chen Chu (
In response to DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun's suggestion that public surveys decide who should represent the green camp, TSU Chairman Chin-chiang (
"The TSU had suggested that the pan-green camp choose one candidate through a survey, but the DPP refused. Now it wants to do the survey and asks the TSU to withdraw from the election. What kind of negotiation is that?" he said, while accompanying Lo to complete his registration for the election.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it