The daughter of former Examination Yuan president and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) veteran Chiu Chuang-huan (邱創煥) yesterday announced that she would contest the legislative elections as an independent candidate.
Describing herself as a descendant of a deep-blue member at a press conference to announce her bid, Chiu Pei-lin (邱珮琳) dismissed concerns of a pan-blue split and said she had entered the election to serve the public and promote Taiwan’s international reputation.
“My father supports my decision and he encouraged me to defend the rights of the public as a legislator ... I am joining the election because I want to make the pan-blue camp better, not because I want to cause a split,” she said.
Photo: CNA
Chiu Pei-lin, 54, will run for New Taipei City’s (新北市) Zhonghe (中和) legislative seat, which is a traditional pan-blue stronghold. Former Taipei deputy mayor Bai Hsiu-hsiung (白秀雄), who worked for President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration when he was Taipei mayor, will serve as Chiu Pei-lin’s campaign director.
“People should elect the best candidate in a legislative election, rather than just choose between different political parties,” she said.
Also speaking at the press conference was Joanna Lei (雷倩), a former KMT legislator and a member of the KMT’s ally the New Party, who will contest the legislative election as an independent candidate in New Taipei City.
Lei said she and Chiu Pei-lin would seek to form a legislative caucus with another second-generation pan-blue political figure who would run as an independent.
“I urge pan-blue supporters to vote for President Ma in the presidential election, but support us in the legislative election … We will make people’s needs a top priority and seek to become a decisive force in politics,” Lei said.
Lei, daughter of former Vice Admiral Lei Hsueh-ming (雷學明), left the KMT in 2007 and joined the New Party.
Both Lei and Chiu Pei-lin insisted that their election bids would have a positive impact on the pan-blue camp.
However, their decision to contest the election as independents comes on the heels of a pan-blue split between the KMT and the People First Party (PFP), which has said it would soon name a roster of at-large legislators.
KMT spokesperson Charles Chen (陳以信) yesterday called for pan-blue unity following the announcements, and urged Lei and Chiu Pei-lin to work with the KMT in the legislative election.
“We urged them to keep pan-blue unity a priority so that the Democratic Progressive Party doesn’t profit from a split in the pan-blue camp,” he said.
Chen also repeated the KMT’s call for collaboration with the PFP in legislative nominations.
PFP spokesperson Wu Kun-yu (吳崑玉) yesterday ignored the KMT’s calls for collaboration, and said the party would soon present its legislative nomination list.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
Taiwan’s three major international carriers are increasing booking fees, with EVA Airways having already increased the charge to US$28 per flight segment from US$25, while China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines are set to follow suit. Booking fees are charged by airlines through a global distribution system (GDS) and passed on to passengers. Carriers that apply the fees include CAL, EVA, Starlux and Tigerair Taiwan. A GDS is a computerized network operated by a company that connects airlines with travel agents and ticketing platforms, allowing reservations to be made and processed in real time. Major players include Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport. EVA Air began
RSS