In a show of commitment to the principle of cooperation with the KMT in the 2004 presidential election, PFP Chairman James Soong (
"I have visited certain senior KMT members recently to convey my New Year greetings," Song said, "and we have reached a strong consensus that the KMT and PFP should only nominate one, joint ticket."
Soong was addressing reporters who had asked him to comment on the prospects for cooperation between himself and KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
Soong, a former KMT secretary general expelled from the party in 1999 for standing against the official KMT candidate, Lien, in the campaign for the 2000 presidential election, said that the senior KMT members he had consulted included vice chairmen and senior, long-serving party officials and that they had all urged him to press ahead with arrangements for cooperation.
But Soong remained evasive about whether he was prepared to play second fiddle to Lien, saying simply, "We understand that there can be only one president and today I have sworn to my ancestors that I will not do anything just for my personal interests."
Stressing that there were many obstacles to any merger between the KMT and PFP, Soong said that the first stage of the two parties' cooperation should include creating a shadow Cabinet and campaign team after the Lunar New Year holidays.
"We believe that what the people are really concerned about is not who will be first and who will be second on the ticket, but that the team should be competent and reliable," Soong said. "I will visit Chairman Lien Chan in a few days to discuss how to create this mechanism."
Soong made the remarks as he visited the Soong family ancestral shrine in Pingchen township, Taoyuan County.
A senior source from the KMT, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Taipei Times yesterday that the key element to accomplishing cooperation was not the attitudes of either Lien or Soong but whether senior officials of the two sides will be prepared to sacrifice their personal ambitions for power to accommodate the deal.
"Actually, Lien, Soong and a few major leaders from the two parties have already completed negotiations," the source said, "and the outcome is clear -- it is the Lien-Soong ticket.
"But many members of the two parties' elites expect their own master to run as presidential candidate so that they will have opportunities for selection as ministers or to share government resources," the source said.
He added that to eliminate possible opposition from the two parties' members, the immediate task facing Lien and Soong is to figure out a method for distributing positions among the parties' elites.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is set to issue sea and land warnings for Tropical Storm Krathon as projections showed that the tropical storm could strengthen into a typhoon as it approaches Taiwan proper, the CWA said yesterday. The sea warning is scheduled to take effect this morning and the land warning this evening, it said. The storm formed yesterday morning and in the evening reached a point 620 nautical miles (1,148km) southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, moving west-southwest at 4 kph as it strengthened, the CWA said. Its radius measured between 220km and 250km, it added. Krathon is projected
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