Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) yesterday announced she would seek the party’s legislative nomination, sparking speculation about a possible pan-blue split as she faces two other KMT contenders.
According to polls conducted in Neihu (內湖) and -Nankang (南港) districts, the results of which were released by the KMT’s Taipei City branch, Lee was the only party member registered for the nomination who achieved the nomination threshold of 30 percent, with 45 percent support.
Lee thanked the KMT for following the nomination procedures at a press conference and expressed her determination to run for the party in the legislative election.
THREE’S A CROWD
However, Lee’s nomination remained uncertain as KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) and People First Party (PFP) Taipei City Councilor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) also intend to run in the legislative election.
The KMT suspended Tsai’s party membership in March after he was found guilty trial of the alleged embezzlement of company funds during his term as Central Motion Pictures Corp chairman.
Tsai said yesterday that he respected the party’s nomination process, but insisted he planned to run regardless.
Lee yesterday urged Tsai to consider the big picture and said she expected the party to observe the poll results.
PARTY UNITY
“The KMT and the pan-blue camp cannot afford a split during the elections and hopefully all party members will unite to fight this battle,” she said.
Huang, on the other hand, said the KMT should start negotiations with the PFP regarding nominees for the electoral district.
The KMT’s Culture and Communications Committee director Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said the party had already began negotiations in districts with more than two contenders and those would continue until the nomination list was completed.
The KMT completed the first phase of legislative nomination on April 20 with the nomination of 40 candidates. It will release the second-phase nomination list on Wednesday and complete the nomination process on May 21.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS