The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) unveiled its legislator-at-large candidate list yesterday, with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) topping the list and the People First Party (PFP) grabbing four of the 34 seats.
Former dean of Chi Mei Medical Center Steve Chan (
Two of the four PFP legislators who won the KMT nomination were Chang Hsien-yao (
Announcing the list following a four-hour meeting, KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yi (
"As the presidential election approaches, Chan's campaigning duties will only grow, especially in southern Taiwan, where he is very influential," Wu said at KMT headquarters.
Wu acknowledged the many difficulties in negotiating the list engendered by the single-member district, two-vote system and called on party members and supporters to support the candidates and maximize the safe zone.
If the KMT wins the presidential election, some of the legislators could be invited to join the government, which would create legislative opportunities for other individuals, Wu said.
The 18 candidates in the "safe zone" were Wang; KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱); KMT Policy Committee convener Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權); KMT Legislator Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛); KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅); a PFP legislator; KMT Legislator Chin Chieh (陳杰); KMT Legislator Lee Jih-chu (李紀珠); a PFP legislator; the National Policy Foundation's Chao Li-yun (趙麗雲); KMT Legislator Lee Chia-chin (李嘉進); KMT Legislator Liao Wan-ju (廖婉汝); KMT Legislator Chi Kuo-tung (
Wu declined to confirm whether the party had ranked Wang No. 1 to promote his bid for reelection as speaker.
"If the pan-blue camp wins the majority in the legislature, we will give our blessings to Speaker Wang for his reelection," he said.
The party nominated Chiu -- now serving time in jail -- to honor his "dedication to bring various scandals to light," Wu said.
The list will be sent to the KMT Central Committee for final approval on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the KMT Central Standing Committee yesterday maintained its decision to omit the "1992 consensus" from its key mission statement for next year, despite opposition by deep-blue members and supporters. It said the "the KMT's cross-strait policies were based on the party charter and policy guidelines."
"The `1992 consensus' and the guidelines are already included in the party Charter, which is the cornerstone of the KMT's policies. It's not necessary to put all the contents of the Charter into a much less important document," KMT Spokesman Su Jun-pin (
At a separate setting, Vice President Annette Lu (
Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS