New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) yesterday said he is “good to go” to run in next year’s presidential election as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) started its nomination process.
Hou — who is widely regarded as the presumptive KMT presidential candidate — made the remark in response to questions about his next moves at a news conference after a meeting with city officials.
Asked to elaborate, Hou said he has held 15 government posts during his career, adding that preparing for new challenges to help the nation is part of the job.
Photo: CNA
The KMT’s nomination process is directed by KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) with an eye toward party unity, Hou said, adding that he trusts in the party headquarters’ decisionmaking process and strategy.
Hou in November last year was re-elected mayor with more than 1.16 million, or 62.42 percent, of the vote, which has bolstered his position as the party’s leading presidential hopeful.
However, to run for president, Hou would need to step down as mayor before serving less than half of his mandate.
Hou said he would like to be part of a special committee that would select candidates for next year’s legislative elections.
Separately, the KMT Central Standing Committee nominated 16 legislative candidates, with KMT mayors and commissioners posing with the candidates for the cameras in a demonstration of unity.
The party would name two more sets of candidates by June 18, KMT Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷), who heads the KMT culture and communications committee, told a separate news conference in Taipei.
The party last month said it would nominate legislative candidates by a special committee instead of holding primary elections, citing a need to maintain solidarity.
The party has delayed naming a presidential candidate due not to disunity, but to amplify the “mother hen” effect on other candidates, Hung said.
The KMT would not rush or postpone announcing candidates for the elections, he said.
Asked about Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) public disapproval of a proposed “non-green alliance,” Hung said the KMT is ironing out differences with other opposition parties in hopes of creating a broader coalition.
The KMT has open lines of communication with other opposition parties and conducts its negotiations with the utmost sincerity, he said.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “[we] appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe