Several key Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) figures absented themselves from KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu’s (洪秀柱) visits to Changhua and Yunlin counties on Friday and Saturday, a gesture that political observers said were aimed at drawing a line between them and Hung.
The visits were part of a nationwide campaign launched last week, but Hung’s trip to Changhua on Friday saw the absence of local KMT legislators Lin Tsang-min (林滄敏) and Cheng Ru-fen (鄭汝芬), and an early exit by KMT Legislator Wang Hui-mei (王惠美), unlike the warm reception Hung received from all eight KMT legislators in Taichung on Thursday.
Former Yunlin County commissioner Chang Jung-wei (張榮味) and KMT Legislator Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡) did not attend Hung’s campaign event in Yunlin on Saturday.
A senior KMT legislator, who declined to be named, said that the cold shoulder Hung received could become a theme as she heads farther south, as legislative candidates doubt her ability to win votes in constituencies in central and southern Taiwan.
Hung’s narratives have been unsatisfying, and her previous unilateral discourse on China has squandered the KMT’s advantage on cross-strait issues, alienating herself from pro-localization KMT legislators, in addition to her inability to court neutral voters, the unnamed legislator said.
“If you are not helpful, others cannot help but distance themselves from you,” the unnamed legislator said.
The legislator quoted some KMT members from central and southern municipalities as saying: “Hung’s visit is harmful to us. Voters would cross out anyone who is associated with Hung.”
KMT Legislator Chen Ken-te (陳根德) said that the party has earned a dim electoral prospect with Hung’s cross-strait policies and a sluggish economy caused by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, coupled with a provocative remark by a KMT member at the party’s national congress, who said: “Taiwanese have failed the KMT.”
Chen questioned the KMT’s strategy of tying the legislative campaign to the presidential campaign, saying: “If the legislative campaigns are bundled with the presidential campaigns, the candidates might all go to hell.”
Saying that the party could not shift the responsibility onto district legislative candidates alone, Chen questioned what contribution the KMT headquarters and the party’s local chapters have made in formulating separate strategies for legislative and presidential campaigns.
Likening Hung to a mother hen, with legislative candidates as her chicks, Chen said that the hen’s inability to lead the chicks had brought about the absence of local legislators from Hung’s campaign events.
“The mother hen might trample her chicks to death, but the chicks are tied to the hen; they would die with her,” Chen said.
The KMT should separate presidential and legislative campaigns, and the party should mobilize prominent local politicians to stump for Hung, while campaigning for legislative candidates in different, but more useful, ways, which could help the KMT retain a few more seats in the legislature if it loses the presidential race, Chen said.
The KMT should analyze the results of last year’s nine-in-one elections and disconnect the legislative campaigns from the presidential campaign in pan-green strongholds to minimize collateral damage, he said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said that Hung’s stumping is a recipe for disaster for other candidates, as her inclination toward hasty unification and blatant refusal of localization pose a sharp contrast to public sentiment in the nation’s south.
Election is realpolitik, and the KMT’s pro-localization legislators are not to blame if they adopt a more practical measure by separating their campaigns from Hung’s, Chen said.
In related news, Hung spokesman Jack Yu (游梓翔) yesterday said he plans to stand down from his position on Saturday, a little more than a month after he accepted the role.
On Facebook, Yu said he would return to his teaching job at Shih Hsin University, but that he would continue to advise Hung’s campaign team on matters related to public and media relations.
Additional reporting by 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,
RSS