Divisions within the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have come to the fore again, as the party prepares for the seven-in-one elections next year, with former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) warning that it could turn away public support.
Lu, who is hoping to represent the DPP in the race for Taipei mayor next year, said the Taipei primary has become a “proxy war” between party heavyweights and could result in a public backlash.
Lu did not name names, but DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) is widely believed to favor lawyer Wellington Koo (顧立雄), while former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) reportedly supports National Taiwan University Hospital physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), an independent who currently has the highest support rate among all pan-green aspirants.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The Taipei primary has become a proxy for a private competition between Su and Tsai for the DPP chairmanship election next year, Lu said.
This maneuvering for personal gain could cost the party dearly, such as the DPP losing in all constituencies in northern and central Taiwan except Yilan County next year, she said.
Lu, who has repeatedly complained of a lack of media coverage of her campaign and the media’s focus on her age, urged DPP headquarters to remain neutral in the primaries.
Meanwhile, the emergence of the New Tide, arguably the most powerful DPP faction, has caught the public’s attention and raised tensions in the party after the group secured a series of primary victories.
Three nominees — Pan Men-an (潘孟安) of Pingtung County, Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷) of Changhua County and Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) of Nantou County — are New Tide members, while Lee Ching-yung (李進勇) won the Yunlin County primary with the backing of the New Tide.
In Greater Taichung, Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), another New Tide member, is trying to narrow the gap with Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) before the primary on Dec. 20. In Taipei, the group appears to have thrown its support behind Koo, with many city councilors who are members of the group endorsing the lawyer.
A DPP resolution in 2006 dissolved all party factions, prohibiting them from establishing offices, recruiting members and fundraising. However, the factions did not really disappear, as many continue to operate in the form of think tanks or foundations led by a senior party member.
The New Tide’s string of primary wins and heavy campaigning to assist them by Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) and Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), both New Tide members, could escalate tensions within the party, former DPP legislator Julian Kuo (郭正亮) said yesterday.
Incumbent mayors and commissioners are advised to stay neutral in the primaries to prevent factional tensions, Kuo said.
Former premier Yu Shyi-kun’s victory in the New Taipei City primary, which drew protests of unfairness from New Taipei City (新北市) Chapter director Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政), who is close to Tsai Ing-wen, has also been described as a trade-off between Yu and Su in exchange for support of Su’s re-election campaign for the chairperson’s post next year. Yu and Su have denied the rumor.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS