The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday dismissed allegations of difficulties in its election campaign in southern cities and counties, but said the party would continue to focus on its campaign efforts in central and southern Taiwan.
The south, including Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung, have traditionally been strongholds for the pan-green camp. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is seeking re-election, is setting up his first southern campaign office in Greater Tainan to expand his support base in the south.
Leading the election campaign in Greater Tainan, local KMT heavyweight Huang Cheng-hsiung (黃正雄) said yesterday that grassroots supporters in the city were joining efforts to campaign for Ma and that the party would arrange for Ma and his running mate, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), to make frequent visits to Greater Tainan and other parts of southern Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
Huang dismissed a report that quoted him as saying that the KMT was facing difficulties in the south and that local factions were reluctant to offer assistance in the presidential election campaign. He said party members in the south would work hard to attract more support for the KMT in the presidential and legislative elections.
“President Ma is putting a great deal of effort into southern Taiwan. Campaigning in Greater Tainan is not easy because of the merger of Tainan County and Tainan City, but we are still hoping that we can have a small lead over the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] in the city,” he said yesterday at the KMT headquarters.
In an interview with the Chinese-language China Times published yesterday, Huang was quoted as saying that local factions in Greater Tainan were reluctant to join the election campaign and that it would be difficult for Ma to repeat his victory in the city in the 2008 presidential election, in which he received 6,000 more votes in the former Tainan City than then-DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷).
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
RSS