The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration should reflect on whether its policies are in line with public opinion, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, a day after its party swept all three seats in legislative by-elections in Taoyuan, Taichung and Taitung counties.
During a visit to Yunlin County, Tsai said the by-election wins were not a victory for the DPP but rather the voters giving Taiwan’s democracy justice.
She said the results would strengthened the public’s confidence in Taiwan’s democratic development, while giving the KMT an opportunity to reflect on and examine whether its policies have gone awry and are out of line with the views of Taiwanese.
The year-end elections for mayors of five special municipalities will be even more crucial for the DPP, and the party will go all out to win, Tsai said.
The DPP will hold a provisional national convention on Jan. 24 to form rules and processes for nominating the party’s candidates in the five special municipality races, she said, adding that everything related to the nominating process has gone according to schedule.
The issue was open to discussion but hopes party members would desist from too much speculation in order to avoid unnecessary disputes, she said. The party should focus its efforts on four legislative by-elections scheduled for Feb. 27 in Hualien, Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Chiayi counties, she said.
Tsai said she would make good use of the party’s 30 legislative seats to fully carry out the party’s opposition role as a check on the power of the ruling KMT.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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