Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) turned down a nomination offer from the party and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who doubles as KMT chairman, to run in Keelung’s mayoral election, citing objections from his family.
The KMT has been looking for a replacement for Keelung City Council Speaker Huang Ching-tai (黃景泰), whose nomination was withdrawn by the party on Wednesday in relation to corruption allegations and tanking public support.
Hsieh was at the top of the party’s replacement list.
Photo: CNA
The legislator has been asserting his unwillingness to run for office and formally rejected the offer after meeting the president on Thursday night.
“My family and my parents are all against the idea. So I have to say sorry to President Ma. However, I will certainly do my job for the party’s election campaign in Keelung,” he said at Taipei Taoyuan International Airport yesterday.
The legislator left the nation yesterday morning for a 10-day trip to Europe.
In a telephone interview with News 98 radio show host Clara Chou (周玉蔻) prior to his departure, Hsieh was asked whether his relationship with the party would be at risk if he refused the nomination, which could negatively affect his nomination next year for legislator.
The three-term legislator said he “does not view [the legislator nomination] that seriously,” adding that if he has the chance, he would continue to serve as a representative, but if not, “I would be OK with changing my career, too.”
Reportedly, Hsieh’s family background figured in the KMT’s decisionmaking process for replacing Huang.
The Hsiehs, who own the Sangong Group (三功集團) and local businesses such as the Second Credit Cooperative of Keelung and educational institutions such as Keelung ErXin High School, are a prominent family in the city.
Both Hsieh’s father and grandfather were Keelung councilors and provincial councilors — during the time when the Taiwan Provincial Government was still functioning — and his grandfather had once run for mayor.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
President William Lai (賴清德) today condemned an alleged attempt by two Chinese to snatch a letter of congratulations handed to Taiwan’s taekwondo team after they won silver at the Summer World University Games in Essen, Germany, yesterday. A Chinese man and woman reportedly tried to snatch a congratulatory letter to athletes Hung Jiun-yi (洪俊義), Jung Jiun-jie (鍾俊傑) and Huang Cho-cheng (黃卓乘) from the Ministry of Education, and then argued with media employees. “Why are you taking our things?” the media employees asked. “Does that say Chinese Taipei?” the two Chinese reportedly said. Following the incident, Sports Administration Director-General Cheng Shih-chung (鄭世忠) wrote on
RSS