A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker yesterday said that efforts to form a presidential ticket with former KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
"I believe that Wang will announce [that he will not pair up with Ma] when he gets back from Malaysia," KMT Legislator Hsu Shu-po (
Wang left for Malaysia yesterday to deliver a speech at the invitation of the Asian Chinese Entrepreneurs Summit and was scheduled to return to Taiwan today.
Approached by the press about the likelihood of a "Ma-Wang ticket" before his departure, Wang said he would "give everyone an answer" after his return.
After Ma formally offered Wang the vice presidential ticket on May 9, Wang on Saturday publicly discussed his stance for the first time.
Wang said that he would rather speak of "Ma-Wang cooperation" instead of a "Ma-Wang ticket," because it effectively communicated their mutual goal of helping the party win next year's presidential election.
Asked to interpret Wang's remarks, Hsu, who is affiliated with Wang, said that the speaker would turn down Ma's offer.
If Wang accepts Ma's offer, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would demand Wang quit as speaker for the reason that the speaker must remain neutral, Hsu said.
"Considering the possible ramifications it could have on the party's election performance if he resigned, Wang believes that he should stay put," Hsu said.
KMT Legislator Hung Shiu-chu (
"A marriage won't work if a groom is forced to marry a bride he doesn't really like. Wang knows that well and he thinks he can help Ma more if his cooperation with Ma takes another form rather than being his running mate," Hung said.
Wang has advanced the deadline for giving Ma a definite answer from June 24 to Thursday at Ma's request.
Ma said on Friday he hoped Wang would give a definite answer by the end of this month.
Wang said he would meet with Ma by Thursday and let him know his decision.
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
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
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