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.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS