The Hsinchu chapter of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday expelled Hsinchu County Council Speaker Chang Pi-chin (張碧琴) for registering for the year-end local elections after the party nominated someone else to run for the position of county commissioner.
Lin Kuo-ping (林國平), chairman of the KMT Hsinchu chapter, said the chapter had forwarded its resolution to KMT headquarters for approval and hoped it would be finalized tomorrow.
Peng Tseng-yuan (彭增源), a standing member of the chapter's Discipline Committee, said they had no alternative but to “reluctantly” cancel Chang's membership because she had violated party rules.
PHOTO: HUANG MEI-CHU, TAIPEI TIMES
The KMT has nominated KMT Legislator Chiu Ching-chun (邱鏡淳) to contest the Hsinchu County commissioner election on Dec. 5.
Former KMT legislator Wu Cheng-tien (吳成典), who lost to Lee Wuo-shi (李沃士) in the party's primary for Kinmen County commissioner, yesterday also announced his withdrawal from the party and registered as a candidate in the election.
Huang Yuan-liang (黃原亮), chairperson of the KMT's Kinmen chapter, said it would present Wu's case to party headquarters for “recommended discipline.”
Aside from Hsinchu and Kinmen, the KMT is also facing a possible split in Yunlin, Hualien, Taitung, Chiayi, Nantou, Yilan, Taoyuan and Penghu.
KMT Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) yesterday said the Party Disciplinary Committee and the Committee Against Corruption would take care of the Hsinchu chapter's recommendation to expel Chang.
Because the two committees are independent units, Chan said he did not have a say on the matter and the party would respect the decision they make.
On the candidate for Yunlin County commissioner, Chan confirmed that the party was having a hard time finding a replacement for Chang Li-shan (張麗善), but said it would have an “appropriate candidate” before the deadline for registration of candidates, which started yesterday and ends on Friday.
Chang Li-shan last week tearfully withdrew from the race, citing family reasons. Her withdrawal was another blow to the KMT after its resounding defeat in the Yunlin legislative by-election about a week ago.
The split in the pan-blue vote, with both KMT candidate Chang Ken-hui (張艮輝) and independent candidate Chang Hui-yuan (張輝元) running in the by-election, helped Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) win by a landslide.
Chang Hui-yuan said after the by-election that he was considering joining the race for Yunlin County commissioner.
Following Chang Li-shan's withdrawal, the KMT has conducted opinion polls on four hopefuls, but Chan yesterday declined to reveal the outcome, saying it was for internal reference only.
Asked whether President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who will assume the KMT chairmanship on Oct. 17, would personally talk to defiant party members to resolve the problem, Chan said Ma only expressed concern on the matter but did not have time to get personally involved because he was preoccupied with state affairs, including the financial crisis and flooding caused by Typhoon Morakot.
Meanwhile, DPP Spokesman Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said yesterday that former DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) would represent the party in the Taoyuan County commissioner race.
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) will make an official announcement on Cheng's nomination tomorrow during the Central Standing Committee, Chao said.
The party's platform for the race will be “clean governance, diligence and love for the land” coupled with the slogan “pan-green government, quality guaranteed,” Chao said.
The official strategy of the DPP will be unveiled after the nationwide conference on Oct. 18, he said.
The DPP does not plan to nominate candidates for Kinmen and Lienchiang counties and plans to team up with Chang Chih-ming (張志明), who recently withdrew his membership from the KMT to run as an independent for Hualien County commissioner.
The Dec. 5 elections will not include Taipei County, Kaohsiung County, Taichung County, Taichung City, Tainan City and Tainan County as they will either be directly upgraded to the status of a special municipality or be integrated into a special municipality next year. They will hold their elections simultaneously with heads of the two existing special municipalities — Taipei City and Kaohsiung City — next year.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JENNY W. HSU AND CNA
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data