Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Chia-chin (
They are Hung Hsiu-chu (
With tears streaming down his face, Lee Chia-chin told yesterday morning's press conference that he hopes that his withdrawal will help unify the pan-blue alliance and reclaim the county after it was lost to the pan-green camp 16 years ago.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
"We lost the election because we are not united," he said. "When Chou announced his candidacy, he said he would like to be the first grain of sand toward the incorporation of the pan-blues. I hope my withdrawal from the primary today serves as the first step toward the pan-blue camp's integration."
"Lee Chia-chin said that his withdrawal was inspired by Chou's `first grain of sand' theory. He said that he was very emotional and over-reacting when Chou announced his return to the KMT to participate in the party's primary.
"After interacting with him and carefully thinking things over, I decided to drop out of the race and give him my endorsement," he said. "I am also happy to accept the offer to be his campaign manager."
While Lee Chia-chin said that he was not pressured to make the decision, Lee Chien-lung said that he strongly suspects that his rival was forced to do so by the higher-ups in the party.
"Closed-door politics," he said. "If the pan-blue alliance wants to recover Taipei County, solid grassroots support base is key."
As Lee Chien-lung vowed to continue his campaign, Hung said that she was stunned and baffled by Lee Chia-chin's decision, but she will continue her election bid.
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
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
A 23-year-old Taichung man vowed to drink more water after his heavy consumption of sugary tea landed him in hospital with a kidney infection and sepsis. The man, surnamed Lin (林), used to drink two cups of half-sugar oolong tea while working at a food stall, where he often had to wait a long time before urinating. Lin developed kidney stones and noticed blood in his urine, but ignored the issue after taking medication for three days. A month later, he went to the emergency room after experiencing a recurring fever and was diagnosed with a kidney infection that led to sepsis, landing