The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said yesterday it would accelerate its nomination process for Sinbei City and Greater Taichung and announce the nominees in the two cities ahead of schedule as several hopefuls agreed to drop out after negotiations.
Taichung County Council Deputy Speaker Chang Chuang-hsi (張壯熙), KMT Legislator Chi Kuo-tung (紀國棟) and Liu Chuan-chung (劉銓忠) have all agreed to withdraw from the November race, and the KMT is now likely to skip the polls and directly name the only remaining candidate, Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), as the party’s nominee.
“The election situation is constantly changing, and the sooner we finish the nomination process the better. There’s a great chance that we will announce the nominees for Sinbei and Taichung ahead of schedule,” KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) said.
The KMT began conducting polls in Taipei City, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung yesterday and will continue today. It will also launch a second round of negotiations to finalize the party’s nomination for those elections based on poll results.
As no party member has expressed an intent to run in Sinbei City, the party will nominate Vice Premier Eric Chu (朱立倫).
King declined to comment on proposals from some Democratic Progressive Party members that the party should nominate former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) as its candidate in Taichung, saying that the KMT will follow its own strategy in seeking to win the elections.
KMT Taipei City Councilor Yang Shih-chiu (楊實秋), who is competing against Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) for the Taipei City nomination, continued to question the transparency of the process yesterday, saying he was more than willing to confront King face to face on the issue.
Yang said the KMT had failed to inform him of the questions to be asked a week before the polls and urged King to explain the matter more clearly.
King urged party members to refrain from making groundless accusations.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese