The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday dismissed allegations that some members have pressured President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who doubles as KMT chairman, to resign as chairman amid the public outcry over the government’s policymaking process.
The party urged the public not to over-interpret the situation.
The recent fuel and electricity price hikes have sparked growing complaints from the public. Ma’s approval rating is down 6.4 percentage points from an approval rating of 32.2 percent in the latest poll by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) this month.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily yesterday reported that a number of KMT members have urged Ma to step down as party chairman and focus his attention on government policies.
A KMT Central Standing Committee member suggested during last week’s Central Standing Committee (CSC) meeting that one of the party’s hopefuls for the 2016 presidential election should take over as the KMT chairman and handle party affairs.
Chuang Po-chung (莊伯仲), director of KMT’s Communication and Culture Committee, yesterday dismissed allegations about an “anti-Ma” force within the party, and insisted that the party’s support for Ma remained unanimous.
“A CSC member from Chiayi did suggest that President Ma should focus on his duties as president, but he made the comments because he was worried about the president’s health given his heavy workload in the government and the party,” Chuang said.
Ma first served as KMT chairman from 2005 to 2007, when he stepped down amid an investigation into his alleged abuse of the special mayoral allowance fund during his two terms as Taipei mayor. Following his victory in the 2008 presidential election, Ma won the KMT chairman ship election in 2009.
The KMT is scheduled to elect its next chairman next year.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it