Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Kaohsiung Chapter director Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) is to represent the party in the Kaohsiung mayoral election on Nov. 24, after winning the party’s primary yesterday.
KMT Organizational Development Committee director Lee Che-hua (李哲華) yesterday announced the primary result at KMT headquarters in Taipei, after two polling firms conducted three surveys from Friday to Sunday to gauge support for Han and KMT Legislator Arthur Chen (陳宜民) among Kaohsiung voters.
Lee declared Han as the winner in the primary polls, but did not disclose the actual support ratings measured by the poll.
However, a KMT member with knowledge of the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Han had garnered an average support rating of 64.8 percent, against Chen’s 35.1 percent.
The KMT is to officially nominate Han as its Kaohsiung mayoral candidate at a meeting of the party’s Central Standing Committee tomorrow.
Han, now 60, served three terms as a lawmaker from 1993 to 2002. After a failed bid to run for KMT chairman in May last year, he was elected director of the party’s Kaohsiung chapter in August last year.
Han is set to compete against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), a five-term lawmaker, in a traditionally pan-green city that has been governed by DPP mayors since 1998.
Speaking at a news conference at KMT headquarters following the announcement, Han said that his plan is to fight poverty in Kaohsiung and boost the city’s economic development.
“Although the DPP has contributed its share to the nation’s democracy, the people of Kaohsiung do not owe the DPP anything for turning Kaohsiung into a poor and old city over its 20 years of administration,” Han said.
According to statistics from the National Treasury Administration, Kaohsiung is the most indebted administrative area in Taiwan, having accumulated NT$248 billion (US$8.2 billion) in debt as of fiscal year 2017, followed by Taipei, with a debt of NT$191 billion, and New Taipei City, with a debt of NT$135 billion.
Urging Chen to ensure a clean election, Han said he aspired to leave the political clamor to Taipei and transform Kaohsiung into Taiwan’s economic center, free from political ideologies.
In response, Chen, who received the DPP’s nomination in March, said he looked forward to engaging in a gentlemen’s fight with Han.
Additional reporting by CNA
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
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
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,
RSS