A potential row between the New Party and its presidential candidate, Li Ao (李敖), which could have taken the party out of the presidential race, appeared to be averted yesterday after the party announced that legislator Elmer Fung (馮滬祥) would be Li's running mate.
"Our presidential ticket has been officially decided, and we are now launching our challenge," announced Lee Ching-hua (
The decision ended speculation that Li -- who is not a New Party member himself -- might quit the campaign over what he had said was the party's reluctance to cooperate with him over the issue.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Li, who has refused to join the New Party despite representing the party in the campaign, initially had three favored choices -- Lee, former DPP spokeswoman Sisy Chen (
While Lee and Chang turned down the offer, the choice of Chen met with strong opposition within the party due to her ideological differences.
After Lee said the New Party might be forced to quit the presidential campaign, Fung offered to be Li's running mate.
Li agreed to accept Fung if the party recommended him officially.
Yesterday, Lee admitted that Fung was in fact on a list of 14 people whom he had proposed to Li as candidates, but that Fung had not been shortlisted.
Li did not explain why he had not considered Fung initially, though he apparently is aware of the controversy surrounding him.
"Fung is a very handsome and knowledgeable man, but he is also much misunderstood -- being suspected of having too close a relationship with the People's Republic of China," Li said.
Fung, who leads a private group promoting unification between Taiwan and China, has made frequent visits to Beijing and has met with senior Communist officials.
Fung explained that the fact he has kept close contact with Beijing does not mean he is "pro-Chinese communists" or supports "hasty unification."
"The Cold War is over and confrontation should be replaced with negotiation," Fung said. Fung, who was a National Assembly deputy before being elected a legislator, worked as secretary to the late President Chiang Ching-kuo (
Fung allegedly played a part in the KMT-sponsored suppression of academic freedom at National Taiwan University in 1973, now known as the "philosophy department incident."
In 1985, Fung also sued a magazine headed by Chen Shui-bian (
Chen was sentenced to one year in jail, and ordered to pay Fung NT$2 million. The verdict, which appeared to mix elements of a criminal trial with civil responsibility, was allegedly the result of political interference.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
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