Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said he would not register as an independent candidate in next year’s presidential election, and respects Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) decision not to run, even though the announcement came as a surprise.
Ko has considered running for a long time, but has always said he would make a decision by yesterday, the Central Election Commission’s deadline to register as an independent candidate.
For the past couple of months, Ko has repeatedly expressed his support for Gou and offered to help him collect petition signatures if he decides to run.
Photo: CNA
“I had originally decided to assist [Gou’s] election campaign, but his decision came too suddenly — I am just as shocked as all of you are,” Ko said.
Gou only informed him about his decision shortly before he announced it to the public, Ko said.
He said he respects Gou’s decision and would not view it as an “assault,” but if Gou had made the decision a month ago, there would have been plenty of time for him to prepare his own bid.
Asked whether Gou had approached him about being his running mate, Ko said that he had long ago rejected the proposal, as he would rather run for president himself and knew it would have been difficult to handle his mayoral duties while running for vice president.
Ko also read a prepared three-page statement responding to Gou’s decision in which he said: “I have never said I would run in next year’s presidential election, but the pan-blue and pan-green camps kept seeing me as an imaginary enemy and putting me in their primary opinion polls.”
“Running for president right after being elected mayor is not a situation that should occur in a normal country, as it would affect municipal administration,” he said, adding that if he could change the political culture in Taipei, it could affect the rest of the nation.
Ko said he was anxious when the presidential candidates of the two major parties were decided, as Taiwan is to get bogged down in a battle between pro-unification and pro-independence ideologies, but what the nation really needs is to improve the efficiency, practicality and performance of its governance.
The election is now to be between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, meaning that it is important for the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to win some legislator-at-large seats, so it can become the key minority in the Legislative Yuan, he said.
If the two major parties do not win more than half of the seats in the legislature next year, then TPP legislators could cooperate with both parties to reduce the opposition’s unreasonable opposition and monitor the ruling party’s unscrupulous behavior, Ko said, adding that the TPP would nominate at least 34 candidates for legislator-at-large seats.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
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
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