Another Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker has declined to run on a KMT ticket for a legislative seat in southern Taiwan.
KMT legislator-at-large Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉) was expected by the party to run in Pingtung County, but is said to have turned down the offer.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported Su saying on Monday that since the KMT has traditionally performed weakly in Pingtung’s third electoral district, where the KMT wanted him to run for a legislative seat, the chance of winning is slim if a traditional “blue-green face-off” is played out.
He said that the party could cooperate with former Taiwan Solidarity Union secretary-general Huang Chao-chan (黃昭展), — who plans to run as an independent — following a model set up by non-affiliated Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). While Ko ran as an independent, his victory over KMT candidate Sean Lien (連勝文) in last year’s nine-in-one elections is widely believed to have been partly due to the Democratic Progressive Party’s “polite yielding.”
Huang would be facing DPP Legislator Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) if he steps into the ring.
Su did not respond to telephone calls from the Taipei Times yesterday.
Reports have said the KMT faces a predicament in that few want to represent the party in central and southern Taiwan, prompting the party to consider disciplinary action against members who do not abide by party decisions.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said the problem is for party headquarters to deal with.
“Is coercion going to work [when it comes to] elections?” Wang asked.
The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) said on Sunday that KMT Pingtung chapter director Liao Wan-ju (廖婉汝) said Su promised to join the race in the district, and party headquarters “has a serious problem” with his decision to drop out.
It does not rule out the possibility of party discipline, Liao said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS