New Taipei City (新北市) Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday dismissed rumors that he might represent the party in next year’s Taipei mayoral election, saying that it is too early to discuss the election.
Chu, a potential candidate in the 2016 presidential elections, remained tight-lipped about his re-election bid in New Taipei City and insisted that city development was his priority.
“Discussions on the nomination for the mayoral and county commissioner elections usually begin in May. It is unfortunate that people are discussing the elections already. This is harmful for the nation’s political stabilization,” he said.
KMT spokesman Yang Wei-chung (楊偉中) denied reports that the party planned to nominate Chu in the Taipei mayoral race instead of former Taipei EasyCard Corp chairman Sean Lien (連勝文) as a way to curb the political strength of his father, former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), a former KMT chairman.
There are many talented members seeking nomination in the Taipei mayoral election, and the party will determine the candidate by negotiation or a primary, Yang said.
Sean Lien is seen as the most popular contender in the pan-blue camp to represent the KMT in the Taipei race.
He has refrained from confirming his bid and has said there are issues to consider.
The Taipei mayoral election is considered a bellwether for the 2016 presidential elections and the mayorship has been viewed as a stepping stone for the presidency.
It is believed that the younger Lien will announce his decision before the KMT holds a primary for the Taipei race, which is likely to be in February or March before the final round of nominations for the seven-in-one elections.
Several KMT members, including legislators Alex Tsai (蔡正元) and Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), and Taipei City Councilor Yang Shih-chiu (楊實秋), have expressed an interest in representing the party in the mayoral election.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
China is attempting to subsume Taiwanese culture under Chinese culture by promulgating legislation on preserving documents on ties between the Minnan region and Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday. China on Tuesday enforced the Fujian Province Minnan and Taiwan Document Protection Act to counter Taiwanese cultural independence with historical evidence that would root out misleading claims, Chinese-language media outlet Straits Today reported yesterday. The act is “China’s first ad hoc local regulations in the cultural field that involve Taiwan and is a concrete step toward implementing the integrated development demonstration zone,” Fujian Provincial Archives deputy director Ma Jun-fan (馬俊凡) said. The documents
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