Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chiayi City Council Speaker Hsiao Shu-li (蕭淑麗) yesterday announced that she would run as an independent for the Chiayi mayoral post later this year, saying she did not trust the KMT’s poll-based primary.
Hsiao said she forsook her supporters three years ago by not completing her bid for mayor and did not want to let history repeat itself.
“I hope my bid will not be determined by the party, but by public opinion,” Hsiao told a news conference in Chiayi, adding that a political party should be like-minded people jointly fighting for people’s happiness and best interests.
Photo: Taipei Times
In March 2014, eight months before the local nine-in-one elections, Hsiao also said she would withdraw from the KMT and run as an independent candidate.
She dropped out of the race in July that year.
Hsiao rejoined the KMT in late 2014 after winning a city councilor seat as an independent.
Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲), the Democratic Progressive Party candidate, won the mayoral post, defeating the KMT candidate, former National Youth Commission minister Chen Yi-chen (陳以真), by only 8,590 votes.
Hsiao said she started mulling quitting the party again after former Chiayi mayor Huang Min-hui (黃敏惠) announced her bid for the mayoral post at an event also attended by KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) on Saturday last week.
“Such a coincidence has caused grievance among my supporters,” Hsiao said.
KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said the party still hoped that all aspiring candidates could return to the party’s primary mechanism.
Asked whether Hsiao notified party headquarters before her announcement, Hung did not answer directly, but said only that the KMT has a good grasp of the situation.
At press time last night, the KMT’s local branch had yet to receive Hsiao’s application for membership withdrawal.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
RSS