Despite claims that he would not intervene in the election for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman, People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) yesterday, on election eve, came down on the side of Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
Wang last night broadcast a videotaped message to a campaign rally that sealed Soong's support for Wang over his rival, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"[In the tape, Soong] did not bring up my election bid. However, his meaning is clear. He hopes that I will win," Wang said at the legislature earlier yesterday.
PHOTOS: HSU PAI-YING AND CHOU MIN-HUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Before leaving the country for an extended vacation in the US, Soong presented Wang's campaign headquarters with the tape.
In a further hint of where PFP support lies, PFP policy research center director Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) urged voters to support Wang in Nantou on Thursday night, while a number of PFP legislators, including Deputy Legislative Speaker Chung Jung-chi (鍾榮吉), made appearances at Wang's rally last night in Taipei.
In response, Ma, campaigning in Pingtung County yesterday, said that he relied on ideals and not on personal connections.
"The reason why [other pan-blue camp members] left the KMT was mostly because of dissatisfaction with the KMT's past affiliation with `black gold' [corruption] and policy direction," Ma said.
"Most importantly, the KMT must find its original direction, to support the Republic of China, oppose Taiwanese independence and oppose the `one country, two systems' policy. If these things can be accomplished, then some members of the PFP and the New Party would consider returning to the KMT," Ma said.
Meanwhile, the KMT yesterday released the number of eligible voters and other details of today's vote.
"I don't dare hazard a guess at the turnout in this election. However, it should be higher than last time," said KMT organization and development committee head Liao Feng-teh (
The party said 928,175 members voted in the last chairmanship election four years ago.
In that election, for which outgoing Chairman Lien Chan (
But given that this was only the second time in the party's history that party members had been able to directly elect their leader and that the election was a run-off between two highly popular party leaders, it was reasonable to expect that the voting rate would be high, Liao said.
Already, Liao said, more than 10,200 ballots from overseas party members had been cast.
The ballots from the party's 59 overseas offices will be counted today along with the rest of the votes cast by the party's million-strong voting pool.
Voting will begin at 8am and end at 4pm at 601 polling stations across the nation. While voters will not be greeted by surveillance cameras at voting stations, as the Ma camp had requested to combat voter fraud, each polling station will be supervised by up to three volunteers from both the Wang and Ma camps, in addition to regular party personnel.
Apart from voting for their next leader, party members will also be voting for regional delegates. More than 1,356 candidates, including Lien's son, Lien Sheng-wen (
According to KMT rules, elections for regional delegates are held on the same day as the chairmanship election. Delegates serve four-year terms concurrently with the term of the chairman.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
RSS