Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Wu Cheng-tien (吳成典) yesterday ignored possible disciplinary action from the KMT and established campaign headquarters to announce his candidacy in the year-end Kinmen County commissioner election.
Wu lost the party primary to Kinmen County Councilor Li Wo-shi (李沃士) earlier this year. The KMT nominated Li in June.
Announcing his bid as an independent, Wu said the KMT’s primary process did not proceed in a fair manner, adding that he would seek to serve Kinmen residents on his own effort.
“I will accept the punishment given according to the KMT regulations, and I will fight a rational and decent battle to seek local voters’ recognition,” Li said.
Li’s announcement created another pan-blue split for the KMT in local government elections scheduled for Dec. 5, with the party scrambling to handle splits in Hualien, Taoyuan, Taitung and Hsinchu.
To prevent another split in Taoyuan County, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) and party secretary-general Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) yesterday visited Taoyuan County Council Speaker Tseng Chun-yi (曾忠義) to seek his support for the election.
Tseng was defeated by Wu Poh-hsiung’s son, KMT Legislator John Wu (吳志揚), in the party primary.
Tseng declined to confirm whether he would give up his bid and said he would make a decision in a few days.
As for the Yunlin County commissioner election, Chan said the party would hold a poll among four hopefuls and present the result to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). Ma, who is taking over the party chairmanship on Oct. 17, will finalize the candidate before the deadline for candidate registration on Friday, Wu Poh-hsiung said.
In Taitung County, the KMT nominated Legislator Justin Huang (黃健庭) in a primary in May, but Taitung County Commissioner Kuang Li-cheng (鄺麗貞) said she would not be discouraged from running for re-election.
In Hsinchu County, Council Speaker Chang Pi-chin (張碧琴) has announced plans to run for the commissionership although the party has nominated KMT Legislator Chiu Ching-chun (邱鏡淳).
In Hualien County, Hualien County Deputy Commissioner Chang Chi-ming (張志明) withdrew from the party to run in the election as an independent against the party’s nominee Tu Li-hua (杜麗華).
Chan said he would soon visit Hualien County Commissioner Hsieh Shen-shan (謝深山), who is reportedly supporting Chang Chi-ming, to seek party integration in the county.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard