Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) yesterday defeated KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) by a margin of less than 1 percent in opinion polls for the party’s primary for November’s Taichung mayoral election.
In an average of three separate surveys, Lu received a support rate of 50.308 percent, while Chiang garnered 49.692 percent, KMT Organizational Development Committee director Lee Che-hua (李哲華) told reporters at the party’s headquarters in Taipei, following the unveiling of the results to the two candidate aspirants.
Asked whether the incredibly small margin could complicate the nomination process, Lee said that Lu and Chiang are mature politicians and that the nomination process would be carried out in accordance with a previous agreement.
Photo: Lee Chung-hsien, Taipei Times
“An agreement was made during a previous meeting of the party headquarters’ nomination negotiation committee, which was to make the nomination based on poll results,” Lee said.
As the party’s Taichung chapter is required to convene a meeting on the matter, the official nomination of Lu is expected to be passed and announced by the KMT Central Standing Committee after the Lunar New Year holiday next week, he said.
Days before the publication of the results, speculation emerged that Chiang was KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) preferred Taichung mayoral candidate, because Chiang’s father-in-law had lent the party NT$30 million (US$1.02 million) to assuage the party’s financial straits.
Born in Keelung in 1961, Lu is married to former Taichung city councilor Liao Shu-chia (廖述嘉). A journalist-turned-politician, she dipped her feet into politics in 1994 when she served on the Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council and is currently serving her sixth term as a lawmaker, representing Taichung’s fifth electoral district.
“Winning the opinion polls is just one small step toward winning Taichung. The road ahead is extremely formidable, as the KMT, as an opposition party, does not enjoy as many resources,” Lu said.
However, Lu expressed her “strong confidence” in creating a miracle with the support of Taichung voters.
She also lauded Chiang for his democratic demeanor, saying that she planned to hire the rising star as her campaign director.
Chiang, who is serving his second term as a legislator, later yesterday told a news conference that he respected the results of the polls and that he would continue listening to public opinion in the hope of making Taichung a better place.
As for Lu’s job offer, Chiang said position did not matter, but pledged to help the KMT regain control of the six special municipalities.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
RSS