Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Acting Chairperson Huang Min-hui (黃敏惠) yesterday joined the list of candidates for party chairperson, while former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) announced he would stay out of the race.
Taipei City Councilor Lee Hsin (李新) on Tuesday picked up a registration form for the by-election and Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) did yesterday.
Huang, 57, is a former party vice chairperson and former Chiayi mayor.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Huang reportedly called Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) before she sent an aide to pick up the form, informing Wang of her decision and assuring him that the party’s local faction would not be absent from the race.
Soochow University political science professor and New Power Party legislator-at-large-elect Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) on Saturday last week said that a mainlander-origin (外省籍) chairperson election would “New-Party-ize” the KMT.
Wang, who is widely seen as the leader of the party’s local faction — as opposed to people of mainlander origin— said before the Jan. 16 elections that he would not run for party chairperson.
Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) had been considered a possible candidate who could win the support of local faction members.
However, reports say he is hesitant to join the race with Hung announcing her bid because he stands little chance given that the party’s Huang Fu-hsing military veterans’ branch — traditionally a ‘deep-blue’ faction that harbours deep distrust of Wang after the political feud between Wang and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in 2013 — constitutes a key base of the party membership.
Hau yesterday released a statement that said he would not join the chairperson election, undoing reports that he would go to party headquarters to pick up a form at 3:30pm.
“I have seen many of our comrades revealing their interest in joining the party chairmanship election. It is unprecedented for the party. These [candidates] have different backgrounds, are of different generations and equipped with various life experiences, a phenomenon that demonstrates the KMT’s diversity and tolerance” of differences, Hau said in the statement.
“With this wide variety of representation, I believe that party members and the public have a sufficient array of choices, from which the most fitting party line and party chairperson could be chosen,” he said, adding that he would help party members build a better KMT.
Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖), who was re-elected on Jan. 16, picked up a registration form yesterday.
As the only lawmaker among the contenders, the party could best perform its role as supervisor of the government as an opposition party with him as chairperson, Chen said.
Chen said the KMT should start to accustom itself with intra-party democracy.
“A race with multiple contenders is not a sign of disintegration, but a process toward achieving consensus and a rebirth of the KMT,” he said.
Taipei City Councilor Chung Hsiao-ping (鍾小平), tried to collect a form, but was denied because qualification rules require candidates to have been a KMT Central Committee member.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS