Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday dismissed concern over the presence of several KMT members at People First Party (PFP) presidential candidate James Soong’s (宋楚瑜) recent events, describing them as “personal interactions,” while stressing that party members should support the party’s candidates.
“Many of the activities our party members attended were simply reunions between old acquaintances. For events like these, KMT members can either inform party headquarters of their plans beforehand or offer an explanation afterward,” Chu said.
The New Taipei City mayor said that what really mattered was a united party standing behind its candidates, adding that party regulations require that members support their own candidates.
Chu made the remarks one day after several KMT members, including legislative candidate Hsu Chih-jung (徐志榮), showed up at a Soong event in Miaoli County.
Hsu publicly urged voters to support the PFP chairman in the Jan. 16 presidential race.
Asked whether the KMT has plans to hold large-scale campaign events for Hung amid rumors that the party was to drop her and nominate someone else, Chu said it was not necessary at this stage.
“All of Hung’s recent campaign events, regardless of which cities or counties she visited, were promoted wholeheartedly by the party. At present, it is more important to make frequent trips at the grassroots level,” Chu said.
Chu also said before the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting that he hopes for “clean elections” when the party holds elections for the 32-member committee on Saturday.
Forty-two KMT members are competing for the posts that are to be held for two years, following an amendment to the party charter last year changing the term from one year.
Commenting on the recent stock market crash, Chu said the market has rebounded over the past two days after he discussed the matter with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) and Hung on Monday, and the Executive Yuan was instructed to take action.
“While Taiwan’s economic performance is vulnerable to the impact of the a global economic slowdown, it is vital that we endeavor to build up our economic strength,” Chu said, adding that the KMT would continue to fulfill its duties to the public for as long as the party is in power.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
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