The country's first-ever televised debate between presidential candidates will be held this afternoon between President Chen Shui-bian (
DPP Legislator Lo Wen-jia (
Lo said the DPP's campaign headquarters had not arranged rehearsals for Chen in advance of the debate and that the president would not alter his work schedule in order to prepare for the debate.
He said that Chen had gained a great deal of debate experience through participating in debates during the 1994 and 1998 Taipei City mayoral election campaigns.
"It is inevitable that the debates will involve aggression and defense, but that's not what concerns the president most," Lo said.
"He feels people have long been been tired of seeing the aggressive acts of politicians. That is why he will focus his debate on proposing a blueprint for the administration's future policies and demonstrating the government's executive abil-ity," Lo said.
He yesterday declined to give further details on the content of Chen's blueprint of future policies, saying that the information was part of the party's campaign strategic secrets.
Public Television Service chairman Wu Feng-shan (
Five people, who were chosen according to principles of professionalism and impartiality, will pose the debate questions to the two candidates.
The five are Huang Kun-yen (
In related news, the DPP's cam-paign manager, Su Tseng-chang (
Chen and Vice President Annette Lu (
Su said yesterday that Chen's getting the first position was a symbol of the party's campaign to put reforms first.
Wang said the No. 2 position of Lien and Soong signifies the pan-blue alliance's determination to stage a second transition of political power.
The debate is co-sponsored by the Taipei Society (
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
RSS