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
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,