Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), the only contender to have successfully registered in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential primary, said she expects at least nine or 10 policy presentations to be arranged for her by the party before undergoing a poll to determine her candidacy.
Hung yesterday said that the party center has not contacted her about when and how the poll would be conducted.
The primary schedule marks June 13 as the last day of the poll, she said, adding that she hopes it would be conducted from June 10 to June 13, the latest dates possible.
KMT primary rules require a sole contender who is not nominated by the party review committee to garner at least 30 percent support in a poll to gain the nomination.
Regarding the policy presentations promised by the primary system, Hung said 11 policy presentations had taken place for the party chairperson election in December last year in which there was only one contender.
“I would expect at least nine or 10 this time,” she said.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said he would give his support to Hung, “if she obtains the party’s nomination.”
When asked about the so-called “blue melancholy” — the perceived predicament that the pan-blue camp, or the KMT, is experiencing — allegedly evident in the local tiers of the party because no “A-list” party heavyweight intends to run for president, Wang rejected the classification.
“It is [the media] who have identified [us as such], but who are the A-listers and who the B-listers?” he said.
He refrained from responding to rumors that many party members expect KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) to talk Hung out of the primary, telling reporters to ask Chu.
Former minister of health Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良), who failed to pass the primary signature threshold, said yesterday on a radio show that he would root for Hung.
He also chided KMT legislators who he said were urging a so-called “draft.”
Calling them “stupid,” Yaung said a party with a set of established rules should follow those rules.
“I doubt that championing rule-breaking before even going through the schedule would be acceptable to the voters,” Yaung said.
Describing the party as one known for its behind-closed-doors arrangements, Yaung asked those legislators “to shut their mouths,” but refrained from naming them when urged by the radio host.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard