Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday triggered speculation that he might cooperate with the People First Party (PFP) for the Nov. 24 elections as he attended the Taipei launch of an alliance of several PFP and independent city councilors and candidates.
PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) also attended the launch of the Taipei Supervising Alliance, made up of PFP city councilors Chen Cheng-chung (陳政忠), Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) and Lin Kuo-cheng (林國成), PFP councilor candidate Hung Shih-chi (洪士奇), independent city councilor Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元) and independent council candidate Hsu Li-hsin (徐立信).
Asked by reporters if his attendance meant he was considering an alliance with Soong, Ko said: “I meet privately with Chairman Soong once every two or three months, so we do not have any problems communicating with each other. There are four current city councilors in the alliance, who I know and who have often supported me.”
Photo: CNA
Asked if the alliance would be part of the “Ko team” for the election, he said that was an “over-interpretation.”
When Soong was asked if the PFP supported Ko and whether he might want to team up with Ko for the 2020 presidential election, he was diplomatic
“Mayor Ko and the PFP, as well as I, have the same thoughts, because he said ‘two sides of the [Taiwan] Strait are one family,’ which correctly describes the situation to the public,” Soong said, adding that Ko likely made the remark because he knows being a politician means he needs to be “practical.”
As for the 2020 elections, he was more concerned about whether Ko does well as mayor, he said.
Asked if he expects Ko to perform well until the end of his term if he is re-elected in November or if he hopes Ko can “rise to a higher level,” Soong said he hoped Ko can perform his duties well at present, and that he hoped Taipei could rise to a higher level.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS