Accompanied by more than 10 retired generals, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文) yesterday paid homage to presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) in Cihu (慈湖) and Touliao (頭寮) in Taoyuan County, in an attempt to appeal to blue-camp voters.
Dozens of tourists from China burst into cheers when they unexpectedly met Lien at the mausoleums — a prime attraction for Chinese tourists — and shouted “Sean Lien, get elected” to wish him victory in the election on Nov. 29.
Lien said the purpose of the visit was to highlight his pledges that, if elected, he would follow in the footsteps of the former presidents in abiding by ethical guidelines for civil servants and making every effort in his power to speak for military personnel, teachers and civil servants.
Photo: Lin Tsu-hsiang, Taipei Times
“Military personnel, teachers and civil servants have devoted their lives to the nation. The government is duty-bound to take care of them for their entire lives,” Lien said, as he reiterated the importance of the government safeguarding the rights and benefits they are entitled to under the current system.
The forfeiture of year-end bonuses for retired military personnel, teachers and civil servants who receive monthly retirement pensions of more than NT$20,000 — a policy adopted by the government late last year and which was revised in August to allow retirees with monthly pensions of less than NT$25,000 to receive year-end bonuses — has been cited as a reason why Lien has been getting only lukewarm support from these traditional KMT voters.
“I would like to take the occasion to reassure [the public] that the promises the government has made to military personnel, teachers and civil servants must be delivered. Their rights and benefits must not be changed,” Lien said.
Lien said the previous time he visited the mausoleums was when he was at junior-high school.
Separately, Lien’s campaign office said he would embark on a “long stay” project by staying over in the homes of heads of boroughs that are traditionally pro-KMT strongholds, in the same way that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) drummed up support during his presidential campaign in 2008 and 2012.
Lien’s first stop was scheduled to be Cheng-gong Public Housing in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last night.
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