Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday denied she was seeking “immediate unification” with China.
Hung made the remarks during a campaign activity in Tainan.
Hung said that many people have said she is seeking immediate unification because they “are not willing to listen to others rationally.”
Photo: Lin Meng-ting, Taipei Times
“Taiwan cannot be unified [with China] by someone else. If there is unification, it has to be [initiated by the Republic of China (ROC)],” she said.
Hung also rebuffed a rumor about her being replaced as the KMT’s presidential candidate.
“You get executed if you run away from the battlefield. It is not possible for me to become a KMT deserter,” she said.
Hung also visited Tainan’s Chenggong Borough (成功), a military dependents’ village, to pay respects to what is said to be the only bust of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) remaining in the city.
Chenggong Borough, better known as juan cun (眷村), is a residential compound that was set up to house soldiers and family members brought to Taiwan with Chiang’s Nationalist army in 1949.
In the community sits a “military dependents’ village cultural museum,” in front of which stands a Chang Kai-shek bust, which is the last Chiang statue remaining in the city, according to Chenggong Borough Warden Chin Kuan-hung (金冠宏).
Hung bowed and presented a bouquet of flowers to the bust.
In her speech, she praised the effort veterans put into safeguarding and developing Taiwan.
“People should remember history so they can truly cherish what they have now,” she said, touting the preservation of the military dependents’ village.
As the number of dengue fever cases continues to rise in Tainan, Hung called on central and local governments to work together to put an end to the outbreak.
She castigated Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for the outbreak and said the seriousness of the epidemic has led to people starting to question the DPP’s ability to govern.
Separately yesterday, People First Party presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) was also in Tainan calling for central-local cooperation to halt the spread of the disease.
“The dengue fever outbreak has been going on for quite a while and the central government has just recently intervened for coordination. The relationship between the central government and municipalities should not be one of schadenfreude, but one of partnership and mutual support,” Soong said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS