New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) was re-elected as party executive chairman yesterday, following repeated delays and rumors of internal party tension.
“Today we held a chairmen’s meeting and, based on our decision, I will continue to serve as the party’s executive chairman,” Huang said in a news conference following the meeting, adding that the decision was unanimous.
His re-election follows a reshuffling of the party’s board of chairmen about two weeks ago, in keeping with party charter provisions mandating new leadership elections after every national election.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Huang said that important decisions would be made by a larger decisionmaking committee composed of the seven party chairmen, along with the conveners of eight different internal policy and work committees.
When asked if there had been conflict over the party’s direction, Huang said: “Everything about the party’s operation is conducted in accordance with the party charter.”
He said that mandating a separation between the party’s internal leadership and national legislators would require the decisionmaking committee to revisit the party’s charter, adding that each of the party’s national legislators would take responsibility for local leadership in their assigned districts.
Neil Peng (馮光遠), former NPP legislative candidate who was also elected to the board of chairmen, called for the executive chairmanship position to be awarded to someone other than the party’s legislators to preserve the party machinery’s independence from legislators.
He said he accepted the result of yesterday’s meeting, which had been delayed by his demand that every member of the board be present before an official meeting could be held.
When asked about his party’s plans to remain relevant and avoid the fates of other small parties such as the New Party and Taiwan Solidarity Union, Huang said his strategy would focus on continuing to produce high-quality legislation while cultivating young people to participate in the 2018 local elections.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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