Eight more James Soong (
Those on the expulsion list included former Legislative Yuan Speaker Liu Sung-fan (
Former deputy director of the Government Information Office Yen Jung-chang (顏榮昌) was also on the list, as he is now a spokesman for the independent candidate.
The others are all leading strategists or supporters of Soong, who was stripped of party membership in November after insisting on running without the KMT's nomination.
"Committee members unanimously agreed to revoke their memberships," said Chien Wei-chang (
In response, Liu said the Soong camp is very likely to win the election.
Former justice minister Liao Cheng-hao (
A total of 36 people have been expelled from the KMT so far for openly supporting the popular former Taiwan governor.
Soong has taken the lead in some recent public opinion polls -- showing signs of recovering from a financial scandal which had dragged his support rating to below 30 percent and threatened to derail his campaign.
In a survey conducted by a local paper on Friday, 23 percent of the 1,359 people polled said they would vote for Soong and his running mate, cardiologist Chang Chao-hsiung (
Rivals Chen Shui-bian (
The KMT's presidential candidate, Vice President Lien Chan (連戰), and his running mate Premier Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) received only a 19 percent support rating.
However, 36 percent of respondents said they were still undecided, according to the poll.
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
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North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
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