The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday completed the nomination process for next year’s seven-in-one municipal elections for Hsinchu City and Yunlin, Taitung and Kinmen counties, with the KMT Central Standing Committee approving the candidate list.
Hsinchu Mayor Hsu Tsai-ming (許財明), Taitung County Commissioner Justin Huang (黃健庭) and Kinmen County Commissioner Li Wo-shi (李沃士) will seek re-election. Former KMT legislator Chang Li-shan (張麗善) was chosen to run for the Yunlin County commissioner job.
KMT spokesman Yang Wei-chun (楊偉中) said the party is scheduled to complete the nomination process in more difficult electoral zones next year, and will speed up the nomination process in cities and counties where the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has already determined its nominees.
The KMT plans to complete the second-round nominations by January, while continuing to struggle finalizing nominees in pan-green strongholds in the south
The party dismissed allegations that Chiayi Mayor Huang Min-hui (黃敏惠) will run in the Greater Tainan election against Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德).
For the Greater Kaohsiung mayoral race, the party plans to nominate former Kaohsiung County commissioner Yang Chiu-hsin (楊秋興).
In New Taipei City (新北市), former premier Yu Shyi-kun has won the DPP’s primary for the mayoral race. New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), a KMT member, has declined to say if he will seek an re-election.
“As mayor, my priority is to promote city development. There will be work to do when the elections approach, but now is not the time to talk about elections,” he said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious