New Power Party (NPP) caucus whip Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) was yesterday elected party chairman after beating Taipei City Councilor Lin Liang-chun (林亮君) in a chairperson by-election.
Speaking at a news conference after the vote, Hsu said he had originally wanted to convince former chairman Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) to reassume the position, but changed his mind after Chiu urged him to take over the chairmanship.
On Tuesday, the party’s decisionmaking committee failed to elect a leader after members voted 4-7 against Lin, the only candidate to have registered for the vote by its Sunday deadline.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Yesterday, seven committee members voted for Hsu, while five voted for Lin, NPP spokesman Chen Chih-ming (陳志明) said.
While the party has yet to schedule a date for Hsu to officially assume the chairmanship, he would immediately take over party affairs, Chen said.
“The NPP’s future strategies will mostly be an extension of what Chiu has laid down,” Hsu said.
The NPP would adhere to its belief in justice and fairness, and seek to carve out a new path different from those of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), he said.
While the NPP has faced a number of challenges from within and outside, he would swiftly and effectively prepare the party for the presidential and legislative elections in January next year, he added.
The NPP’s goal for the legislative elections is to perform better than it did in the 2016 elections, he said.
Specifically, he hopes the NPP would receive more than 1 million party votes, he said.
The NPP would nominate more legislative candidates in different constituencies and hopes to continue to play a pivotal role at the legislature, he added.
Asked if he would collaborate with the DPP or other pan-green parties in the elections, Hsu said he would keep an open mind.
“I am always ready to talk and can meet as many times as needed,” he said, adding that he hopes to meet with DPP Chairman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) to discuss collaborating in the elections as well as at the legislature.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to