Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) is to meet with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) on Tuesday to discuss the presidential primary, the party said yesterday.
The KMT in a statement said that the two would meet at 3pm to discuss issues related to the its presidential primary.
The announcement came two days after the KMT decided to include all potential presidential candidates in its primary to select its candidate for next year’s presidential election.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
They are Han, former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), KMT Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) and Hon Hai Precision Industry chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘).
MOST POPULAR
Han remains the KMT’s most popular politician and in most opinion polls performs better than any potential Democratic Progressive Party candidate.
However, he has said that he was reluctant to participate in the race, because he has only served as Kaohsiung mayor since Dec. 25 last year and does not want to be seen as abandoning the city.
OPEN DOOR
On Tuesday, he left the door open for a presidential bid, saying: “At this time, I cannot join the primary under the existing system.”
By including Han in its primary, the KMT has given him reason to run for president if public opinion is in his favor.
Wu is also expected to hold talks with each of the KMT’s potential candidates, although the dates have yet to be disclosed.
The Kaohsiung mayor, who yesterday presided over a signing ceremony for the sale of vegetables to Japan, confirmed the meeting with Wu, but declined to provide any further details except to say that they plan to talk about “anything and everything.”
In other news, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation chief executive officer Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) yesterday said that Han is also to attend an economic conference hosted by former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Tuesday.
Wu and Chu are also to be at the event, Hsiao said, adding that the foundation is still trying to contact Wang and Gou to invite them.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard