Taipei EasyCard Corp chairman Sean Lien (連勝文) yesterday dismissed speculation that he intended to run in a by-election that is scheduled for March 28 to fill the seat left vacant by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Diane Lee (李慶安).
Lien, son of former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰), said he would focus his efforts on leading the company and would not leave the position he took up last year.
OPPORTUNITY LOST
“Running in the by-election would be a great opportunity for me, but I have no intention of leaving the company right now. I have an obligation to stay at the company and I cannot leave until my job is done,” he said yesterday while hosting a company event in Taipei.
Lien made the remarks in response to Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Pan Meng-an’s (潘孟安) claim that Sean Lien had visited KMT caucus secretary-general Chang Sho-wen (張碩文) to express his interest in running for Lee’s seat and had sent supporters to join protests against Lee before she resigned.
Lee, who apparently holds US citizenship, which constitutes a violation of the Nationality Act (國籍法), stepped down on Thursday.
The by-election will be held in Taipei City’s Da-an (大安) legislative district.
Sean Lien is a rising star in the KMT.
His appointment as Taipei EasyCard chairman in August by Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) attracted widespread criticism from pan-green Taipei City councilors, who said Hau and the KMT had given Sean Lien the post to advance his political amibitions.
INTERESTED PARTIES
KMT Taipei City councilors Chiang Nai-shin (蔣乃辛) and Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) have expressed an interest in running for the vacant seat.
On the DPP side, Taipei City Councilor Chou Po-ya (周柏雅) has so far expressed interest.
The three councilors attended an event in Da-an District yesterday to seek grassroots support in the by-election.
Lin said the KMT would probably choose a candidate through negotiations, but added that she hoped to represent the party in the by-election.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai