The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday confirmed that the dean of the Tainan-based Chi Mei Medical Center, Chan Chi-hsien (詹啟賢), will join KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) campaign team.
The hospital was where President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) were first treated after an assassination attempt in 2004.
At the time, Chan dismissed speculation that the shooting was staged and that medical records had been forged.
Chan, an ethnic Taiwanese and a former KMT health minister, also has good relations with many in the pan-green camp, including former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) had suggested that Ma choose Chan as his running mate, but that plan fell through.
KMT spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) yesterday confirmed that Chan will leave his post at the hospital to join Ma's campaign team.
"Chan shares the same goals as Ma and [running mate] Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), and he wants to do something for Taiwan," Su said yesterday at the KMT's party headquarters.
Su said the party had not discussed with Ma what role Chan will play on the team.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said Chan's inclusion in Ma's campaign team would be a great help to Ma because Chan has a good reputation with the voters in central and southern Taiwan.
Chan has been very influential within the business community and has connections with both pan-green supporters and pan-blue supporters, Wang said.
"I believe that Chan will attract votes -- lots of votes -- for the Ma-Siew ticket," he said.
Some pan-blue lawmakers didn't agree however.
KMT Legislator Joanna Lei (雷倩) said that Chan should tell the public the truth about the assassination attempt before joining Ma's camp. He should hold a press conference "to reveal the truth" as the public had been haunted by the truth behind the shooting for three years, Lei said.
People First Party Legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) said including Chan on the KMT's team would be unfavorable to Ma's presidential campaign. Ma should put the emphasis on the economy and people's livelihoods rather than on ethnic issues, he said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Public health officials are aiming to prevent mold-induced carcinogens in peanuts to protect consumers, new regulations proposed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showed. Taiwan’s hot and humid climate results in heightened risks of mold growth, which could create aflatoxin in peanuts, the FDA said. Aflatoxins are an International Agency for Research on Cancer group 1 carcinogen with no tolerable daily intake and cannot be removed through remedial food processing, it said. In response, guidelines have been proposed to regulate the production of peanut products to ensure higher food safety standards, the agency said, adding that the public comment period would be
RSS