The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is using every resource at its disposal -- including asking for help from religious and business leaders -- to help dissuade the numerous aspiring candidates who want to take part in the year-end elections.
Among the 152 KMT members who intend to run for a seat in the soon-to-be slimmed down legislature, only 103 have actually registered. Many of those who have not registered, according to a party official, were "talked off."
It sometimes takes special connections to talk a potential candidate out of running, a high-level party official said on condition of anonymity.
For example, in order to convince three potential candidates to not register in Taipei's second district, so that serving Legislator Justin Chou (周守訓) can remain the KMT's candidate, the party asked Buddhist Master Hsing Yun (星雲), who has a close relationship with one of the three potential candidates, to help, the party official said.
Meanwhile, in Taichung, a business leader served as the mediator between County Councilor Wang Chia-chia (
Wang's mother-in-law, Shiatzy Chen (王陳彩霞) -- a clothing designer -- is a close friend of KMT Acting Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤). Chiang asked the business leader to help convince her daughter-in-law not to run in the district.
Wang pulled out of the race.
Mayors have also had a hand in mediating as well.
Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (
But in addition to human mediation, immortals are being called upon to intervene in party nominations, too.
In Miaoli County, when Li I-ting (
Buabuei is a tradition in which people consult divinities by throwing two kidney-shaped wooden blocks. One block showing upside and another showing the downside indicate the immortal's approval.
Although Li has won the god's approval, Kang decided he would risk divine wrath and insist on running anyway.
Chiu Ching-chun (
It's said that although they swore to the gods that one would run for county commissioner and the other would run for legislator, both decided to run in the legislative election.
Still, the KMT denies personal connections and money determine nomination arrangements.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS