A flag representing a newly formed political party has been cleared by the Ministry of the Interior, but its similarity to the flags used by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the New Party has raised eyebrows.
According to a report yesterday by the Chinese-language United Daily News, the Republic Party (Minkuotang, 民國黨 or MKT) flag consists of the Republic of China’s national emblem on a golden-yellow background, a design that employs a symbol used by the KMT and the colors used by the New Party.
Members of the KMT and the New Party said the design is a cause for concern, as voters might confuse the MKT flag for that of the KMT or the New Party, the report said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, the Chinese and English names of the MKT closely resemble those of the KMT, while there is also only a one-character difference between the MKT’s Chinese name and the Democratic Progressive Party’s (民進黨), causing some legislators to ask if the MKT aims to trick voters in next year’s legislative elections, the report said.
“Parties should assume that their supporters have the basic intelligence to discern [different party emblems],” MKT spokesman Hsu Shih-hsun (徐世勳) was quoted as saying.
The MKT’s flag is based on the party’s political beliefs and was not designed to cause confusion, Hsu was quoted as saying.
KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said that the MKT seemed to be “exploiting loopholes” in formulating its name and its flag, which “the Ministry of the Interior should have made stringent checks on,” the report quoted Lo as saying.
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm
RSS