Minister Without Portfolio Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) yesterday filed an application for party membership with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) amid speculation about a bid for the Greater Kaohsiung mayoral election.
Yang, a former Kaohsiung county commissioner and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member, visited KMT headquarters yesterday morning and handed his application to KMT Vice Chairman Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權).
He also met with KMT Organization and Development Committee director Su Chun-pin (蘇俊賓).
Yang said he had joined the KMT about 37 years ago as a student and later left because he did not agree with the party’s authoritarian rule at the time.
“The political environment has changed over the years and so has the situation in Taiwan. The KMT became an opposition party for eight years before regaining power and it is a localized party now,” he said.
He also lauded the KMT’s cross-strait policies as being pragmatic, while declining to confirm whether he had joined the party in an attempt to run in the Greater Kaohsiung mayoral election next year.
Yang ran unsuccessfully in the municipality’s mayoral race in 2010, when Kaohsiung city and county were merged. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), then the incumbent, won the DPP’s nomination for the post over Yang, prompting Yang to quit the party and run as an independent candidate.
Later at the Executive Yuan yesterday, Yang again evaded questions about the chances of him running in the election.
“There is still some time left until the election. It’s not necessary to make me the only target [for mayoral candidate]. Actually, I am really good at carrying a sedan chair. If the party finds a suitable candidate who has a good chance to win the election, I could be a good porter,” Yang said.
Asked if he would be the one to sit in the sedan chair, Yang said he would rather answer that question in the future.
Yang said he agreed to invitations to rejoin the KMT, one of which was extended by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), because he has found that he has similar ideas to Ma and that he agrees with the policies of the Ma administration.
Ma’s “three noes” policy — no unification, no independence and no use of force — and his adherence to the Republic of China are the best strategies to steer the nation, Yang said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS