President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), in his capacity as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman, will tour Taiwan early next year to thank voters for their support in the Dec. 5 local elections and stump for party candidates in the imminent legislative by-elections.
Ma will first visit Taoyuan, Taitung and Taichung counties, where legislative by-elections are to be held on Jan. 9, to drum up support for KMT candidates, Lee Chien-jung (李建榮), the head of the party’s Culture and Communications Committee, said after a KMT meeting on Monday hosted by KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰).
During his roadshow, which will continue until Feb. 21, Ma will meet KMT supporters at gatherings organized by the KMT in cities and counties around Taiwan, Lee said.
KMT legislative whip Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said at Monday’s meeting that the caucus would convene a delegation to campaign for KMT candidates in the by-elections, Lee said.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), Deputy Speaker Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) and Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) will organize election activities for Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞), who will represent the KMT in the Taitung County legislative by-election, Lee added. Kuang hopes to fill the seat vacated by Justin Huang (黃健庭), who resigned as legislator before being elected Taitung County commissioner on Dec. 5.
KMT honorary chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), Vice Premier Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Taoyuan County Commissioner John Wu (吳志揚) will lend their support to Chen Li-ling (陳麗玲), the KMT’s candidate in Taoyuan County.
The seat was previously held by the party’s Liao Cheng-ching (廖正井), whose election was invalidated after he was convicted of vote-buying.
Meanwhile, local KMT grassroots leaders will give their support to Taiping Mayor Yu Wen-chin (余文欽), who will run in Taichung County for the seat previously held by the KMT’s Chiang Lien-fu (江連福), who was also convicted of vote-buying, Lee said.
King will organize and coordinate all campaign activities leading up to election day, Lee added.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
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Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
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