People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) of failing to make an effort in promoting pan-blue cooperation in next month’s special municipality elections and said the PFP would support capable candidates regardless of their political affiliation.
“The KMT’s secretary-general or any other top officials has not been in touch with our secretary-general or the PFP and negotiated with us,” Soong said after campaigning for PFP Taipei City Councilor Lin Kuo-cheng (林國成), who is seeking re-election.
Soong declined to confirm whether or not the PFP will campaign for KMT candidates in the Nov. 27 elections, urging only that voters support capable candidates.
The KMT yesterday kept a low profile in the face of criticism from its pan-blue ally. KMT Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said the party would invite pan-blue heavyweights to help campaign for its candidates as the elections approach.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin’s (郝龍斌) campaign team allegedly invited Soong to attend the opening ceremony of Hau’s campaign headquarters today. However, Soong was not on the guest list.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), in his capacity as KMT chairman, former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and other top party officials will all attend the ceremony this morning to campaign for Hau.
Soong yesterday declined to assess the outcome of the special municipality elections, while lashing out at the central government for its poor handling of the flooding in Kaohsiung City.
He discussed his own previous experience with disaster relief work as a former governor of Taiwan Province and said the central government should work closely with local governments to solve problems in the wake of natural disasters.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
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A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all