New Taipei City Mayor and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday unequivocally said that he will not run for president next year.
“I won’t take part in the 2016 [presidential election], all right?” Chu said when a reporter asked him if he would deliver on the promise he has repeatedly made to complete his mayoral tenure.
Chu was again peppered with questions yesterday from reporters about whether he intended to run for president after KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) on Thursday said that Chu is “giving serious thought to running.”
Hau said Chu is duty-bound to represent the KMT in the election because he is the party chairman and the candidate with the best chance of winning.
“I have told him that he has to be mentally prepared to run,” Hau said during a radio interview.
Asked about Hau’s remarks, Chu said: “There is no such [duty].”
“I have been consistent in my stance on this — I will do a good job as mayor and complete my term. As the party’s chairman, I am like an arbitrator or a coach. I hope to see more talented people participate in the party’s primaries for both the legislative and presidential elections,” Chu said.
A reporter then asked his views on speculation that his recent decision to give up legal battles over 10 of the party’s assets, the ownership of which were disputed, was a move to smooth the difficulties he would face when running for president, Chu said the party has stuck to the path of reform.
Chu then said he would not run for president next year when a reporter pressed him on whether he would keep his promise to serve out his term as mayor.
At a separate setting, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson — and presidential candidate — Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) declined to comment on Chu’s remarks that he would not compete in the election.
Tsai said she would comment when the KMT names its candidate.
Tsai said her role at present is to listen to the public and exchange views with them as part of her preparation for the election in January next year.
Legislative Deputy Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who has announced her intention to run in the KMT primary, said that she did not think that Chu really meant to absent himself from the presidential race.
“He said what he said only because he was pressed too hard by the media,” Hung said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan and CNA
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS