Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢), who on Monday announced a bid for the party chairperson election in May, said he would be running for president in 2020 as party chairman if elected.
In a radio interview yesterday, Chan said he believes it would be best for the KMT to have the next party chairperson run for president.
“Leading the party and the election campaign at the same time would be the most effective campaign tactic and the same goes for the local elections next year,” he said, adding that the party’s image and the chairperson’s behavior would influence its prospects in next year’s local elections.
Asked about calls within the KMT for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) to run for president on the KMT ticket in 2020, Chan denied that it was a call from within the party, but said the call arose from “talk in society.”
He has not discussed the issue with Gou, Chan said, but added that Gou had once jokingly told Chan that he had no idea why he is being linked to a presidential bid.
Chan said he knows he will have to fulfill certain requirements and meet qualifications to secure the party’s presidential nomination, but he wants to “make his stance clear” on his intention to run for president.
Being a vice presidential candidate “is not an option for me,” he said, amid rumors he might partner with Gou.
Chan said he would play a supporting role if Gou won the nomination, but not as a vice presidential candidate.
Chan said it was not worth worrying about the possibility of chairperson votes being divided between himself and former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) — with the pair considered part of the “local” faction up against KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu’s (洪秀柱) mainlander faction.
Chan challenged the notion of factions even existing, saying that people seem to have a different definition for what they are made up of.
He said there is no division along “local” and “mainlander” lines, nor along “independence” and “unification” idealogies.
Some might be categorized as “local,” but have had conflict with the Huang Fu-hsing (黃復興) branch — made up of military veterans and their relatives — because of personal reasons, he said, adding that while the KMT used to be an inclusive and diverse party in which all endeavored to construct Taiwan under the same ideals, now factions harbor animosity toward each other.
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
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,
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
RSS