Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) traveled to Taoyuan County yesterday to campaign for Apollo Chen (陳學聖), and said the party will expel members who violated its regulations and don’t drop out of the upcoming by-election by today.
Chen was nominated by the KMT as its candidate for the Taoyuan County legislative by-election, which will be held on Feb. 27.
“It is very important to follow party regulations, and we will have to revoke party memberships of those who risked violating party regulations by insisting on running in the by-elections,” King said, in a clear reference to Jhongli Deputy Mayor Lin Hsiang-mei (林香美) and Taoyuan County Councilor Wu Yu-tung (吳餘東).
Lin announced on Tuesday that she would quit the KMT, accusing it of failing to follow proper nomination processes. She and Wu have refused to drop out of the race.
The KMT nominated Chen even though he placed third in its opinion polls after Jhongli Mayor Ye Bu-liang (葉步樑) and Lin. Wu placed fourth.
The party’s Culture and Communications Committee said in a statement last week that the KMT had not nominated Ye or Lin because it did not want them to attack each other. Chen was picked after King intervened because Chen was thought to have the best chance of winning, the committee said.
Four by-elections will be held on Feb. 27 to replace lawmakers from Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Chiayi and Hualien who won posts in last month’s mayoral and county commissioner elections.
The KMT said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), in his role as party chairman, will begin a nationwide tour next month to campaign for its candidates and seek better communication with local factions.
Ma will visit Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Chiayi and Hualien counties first to campaign for the by-election candidates. He will then visit cities and counties that will hold special municipality elections next year, before meeting with KMT members in other cities and counties.
Ma would meet local members at “tea parties,” the committee said.
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