The "pan-blue" camp hopes to announce its joint candidate for the year-end Kaohsiung mayoral race by the end of the week, James Chen (陳建治), director-general of the KMT's Organization and Development Committee, said yesterday.
According to Chen, the KMT's nine-member nomination review committee could announce its choice of candidate for Kaohsiung mayor as early as tomorrow.
"Once that is done, we will sit down with the PFP to reach a consensus over a joint candidate," Chen said, adding that a consensus would be reached either through an opinion poll or negotiations with the PFP.
"If all goes smoothly, a joint KMT-PFP candidate will be decided this week without much ado," Chen said.
The PFP has selected its vice chairman, Chang Chao-hsiung (
Complicating matters is the number of contenders from the two parties as well the entry of former minister of the interior Chang Po-ya (張博雅) and former DPP chairman Shih Ming-te (施明德), both of whom are independents. The PFP has proposed that Chang and Shih should be taken into consideration as joint candidates for the "pan-blue" camp to take on DPP incumbent Frank Hsieh (謝長廷).
Chen declined to comment on speculation in a local Chinese-language newspaper that Huang Jun-ying would be the KMT's chosen candidate.
Meanwhile, PFP caucus leader Liu Wen-hsiung (
Liu said Chang would only withdraw with good reason.
"[Chang] has never insisted that he run in the Kaohsiung mayoral race," Liu said. "If the KMT's nominee has a greater chance of winning than Chang, then that would be a good reason for Chang to withdraw from the race."
While Liu did not rule out Chang Po-ya or Shih, he said there was some opposition within the party to Chang Po-ya's obscure political position.
Liu, nevertheless, reiterated that his party has maintained a high degree of flexibility concerning the mayoral candidacy and will not rule out any qualified contenders.
Once the KMT reveals its choice of candidate, Liu said his party would prefer to decide on the joint candidate through negotiation rather than opinion polls.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
RSS