Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he will meet with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) by next week in an effort to seek Wang's cooperation as soon as possible.
"I was nominated by the party as the presidential candidate. The Ma-Wang meeting should not be delayed any longer," Ma said yesterday in an interview with TVBS.
Pledging to meet with Wang by next week, Ma said he would like to carry out his promise to invite Wang to be his running mate, and sort out the issue as soon as possible.
"I think the [Ma-Wang ticket] issue is not what people care about the most. I hope to visit Speaker Wang as soon as possible," he said.
After expressing confidence about his chances of winning the presidential election next year, Ma then criticized the four Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential hopefuls.
Voters will support the candidate who demonstrates honesty and political ability, he said.
"Premier Su Tseng-chang (
Ma also used the occasion to reiterate the KMT's stance that Taiwan maintain its status quo and that the party would prioritize the nation's economy.
"The KMT does not support Taiwan independence, and we will not choose the option of Taiwan independence," he said.
If elected president, Ma said he would take advantage of his "Taipei experience" as former Taipei mayor and build a better Taiwan.
"I believe I will not lose the election to any other candidate," he added.
Ma is expected to decide on his running mate before his candidacy is formally announced during the KMT's national convention on June 24.
In response to Ma's remarks, Wang said he was willing to meet with Ma next week.
But he said he had no idea what Ma wanted to talk to him about in the meeting, and he himself hadn't thought of issues to exchange ideas with Ma on.
"He [Ma] has been telling me that the KMT has to decide on the party's presidential ticket as soon as possible as the DPP [Democratic Progressive Party] will soon determine its candidates, but I told him that there is no hurry on this," Wang told the press yesterday.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
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
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS