New Power Party (NPP) legislative candidate Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) yesterday registered his candidacy for the Hsinchu district seat, following the failure of efforts to “integrate” with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘).
“We showed a huge amount of good faith by putting out the possibility of integration polls, but that was not something we could make happen on our own,” Chiu said. “Prior to the official registration, there was always a possibility of using polls to integrate, but that possibility fell apart after [Ker] registered on Monday.”
“Integration” refers to an ad hoc primary process under which competing candidates agree to withdraw from the race and support whoever ranks highest in a negotiated set of surveys.
Photo: Wang Chun-chieh, Taipei Times
Ker last week was quoted in the Chinese-language media as saying that integration was a “fake issue” used for “electoral manipulation.”
“We will keep moving forward on our set course,” Chiu said, adding that while reform of the Legislative Yuan will remain one of the pillars of his campaign, his focus would be on the system, not Ker’s role as the DPP caucus whip.
Chiu has been critical of role that cross-party negotiations — often conducted behind closed doors — play in the passage of legislation, while Ker has said that such discussions are a necessary measure to solve deadlocks on the legislative floor.
Ker yesterday dismissed concerns that having two pan-green candidates in the race would deliver a victory to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Cheng Cheng-chien (鄭正鈐), citing last year’s Hsinchu mayoral election that saw DPP candidate Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) elected even though former DPP mayor Tsai Jen-chien (蔡仁堅) ran as an independent in the race.
Hsinchu is now the sole legislative district to have both a DPP and a NPP candidate in the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections, as the parties were able to coordinate on the nominations for most of the other district seats where there was an overlap.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS