The People First Party (PFP) and its erstwhile ally the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) have a partner-to-partner relationship, but there are no plans for a merger, said the PFP yesterday.
"The PFP and the KMT have a very clear `partner-to-partner' relationship. We stand with the KMT in their position on Taiwan's national status and title. However, on social policies and issues, we are making the voters' concerns our priority and do not exclude the possibility of cooperating with any party," said PFP spokesman Hsieh Kong-ping (
Hsieh made reference to a previous statement by party chairman James Soong (
Hsieh made the comments while addressing rumors that the PFP and its traditional rival the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) might collaborate in the formation of a new Cabinet.
At the press conference, Hsieh denied that the PFP had plans to cooperate with the DPP and revealed that party chairman James Soong (
Soong is currently on a trip in the US.
Before Soong left Taiwan, said Hsieh, Soong had called Lien to discuss various party concerns. During the conversation, Soong had reassured Lien that the PFP would not cooperate with the DPP to form a new cabinet, said Hsieh.
Seeking to put an end to media speculation on the issue, Hsieh further emphasized that only the party's spokesperson, secretary-general, and legislative caucus whip could act as reliable sources of information.
All other people should not be considered representative of the party, and the PFP will not exclude taking legal action against future "irresponsible" media reports, said Hsieh yesterday.
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
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