Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) yesterday accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of failing to develop Hualien County while in power, as he stepped up the campaign for the party’s candidate in the Feb. 27 Hualien legislative by-election.
King condemned DPP candidate Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) for defending former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) during his eight years in office and asked her to define the developments that the former DPP government had brought to Hualien.
APOLOGY
“Hsiao owes Taiwanese an apology for defending Chen and saying so many good things about him in the past,” King said in Hualien while campaigning for KMT candidate Wang Ting-sheng (王廷升).
King said the KMT would not attack Hsiao for not being a Hualien native, but Hsiao should explain to the public how much she or the former DPP government had done for the county.
Hoping to grab all four seats in the legislative by-elections, the KMT will continue its campaign efforts during the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts tomorrow.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will visit Hsinchu County today and promote party unity by hosting a dinner banquet with party candidate Cheng Yong-tang (鄭永堂), Hsinchu County Commissioner Chiu Ching-chun (邱鏡淳) and Hsinchu County Speaker Chang Pi-ching (張碧琴), who left the party for an unsuccessful run for county commissioner in December.
Ma will visit Hsinchu County to campaign for Cheng again on Monday and will also tour Taoyuan and Hualien counties during the holidays as part of a last-minute campaign effort before the by-election, the KMT said.
VICTORY
Ma has instructed all members to resolve party splits and seek victories in all four counties to boost party momentum after it lost all three seats in the previous round of legislative by-elections last month.
King said the party would start the nomination process for December’s special municipality elections after the legislative by-election later this month. He said in an interview with TVBS on Wednesday night that the KMT would consider itself the victor in the year-end elections if it won three municipalities.
The special municipality elections will be held in Taipei City, Kaohsiung City, Taichung, Tainan and Taipei County.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
RSS