The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) elected seven new members to its Central Standing Committee yesterday and finalized its list of legislator-at-large candidates at yesterday's National Party Congress.
The candidates for the legislator-at-large seats were confirmed despite previous disagreements in the party rank and file.
The KMT's legislator-at-large nominations have produced grumbles within the party, as certain hopefuls discovered in recent days that they were not chosen to be nominated, or that they had not entered the so-called "safe 14" spots.
The number of legislator-at-large seats each party will delegate depends on the percentage of votes allocated to the party nationwide in the Dec. 11 legislative elections. As a result, in addition to having regionally elected candidates, each party announces legislator-at-large candidates in order of preference prior to the elections. This year, the KMT and its ally the New Party estimate that at least 14 of their hand-picked at-large candidates are guaranteed seats in the legislature.
All at-large candidates were approved by a large majority of the KMT's 217 Central committee members. The Central committee also confirmed the nomination of the party's proposed five overseas legislative seats. New members of the party's Central Standing Committee were also elected yesterday, with seven new members entering the party's top decision making body.
The new faces include Aborigine Shih Yuan-na (石元娜), National Taiwan University professor Ger Yeong-kuang (葛永光), Lieutenant General Hu Tsai-kuei (胡木貴), labor activist Yao Chiang-lin (姚江臨), Taipei City Councilor Lin Yi-hua (林奕華), the National Policy Foundation's Chao Li-yun (趙麗雲), former chairperson of the Council of Sports Affairs, and Chiang Fang Chih-yi (蔣方智怡). Chiang is the daughter-in-law of late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
The elections were held at the National Party Congress yesterday at the KMT headquarters in Taipei. Reflecting the conference's focus on the Dec. 11 legislative elections, the conference began with all nominated legislative candidates standing up on stage arranged to form a mini KMT party flag on a map of Taiwan to signal the party's hopeful dominance in the year-end elections.
Over 500 people attended the conference, with legislator-at-large and Central Standing Committee hopefuls and their supporters working to garner support from party peers.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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