Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislator and founding party member Tsai Pi-ju (蔡壁如) said today that she has decided to run for the party’s Central Committee.
Tsai currently serves as an advisor to the Taichung City Government and has informed Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) of her resignation, she said.
TPP Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who has been detained during an investigation into a corruption case involving Core Pacific City, sent a letter of resignation from his position as party chairman with the approval of the Taipei District Court.
Photo: Chang Hsuan-tse, Taipei Times
The TPP’s newly elected Central Committee is to decide whether to elect a new chairperson next month.
After working closely with Ko for more than 20 years, Tsai said she was disheartened when he was detained and restricted from communicating with others.
She considered continuing her role as an advisor, but colleagues and friends reminded her that she has a responsibility to the party as one of its founding members, she said.
Tsai would help build an internal consensus about what direction the party should take heading into 2026, she said.
If the party becomes stronger and its polling improves, it could save both the party and Ko, she said.
Ko’s decision to step down as chairman was made with careful consideration and out of love for the party, Tsai said.
Ko would always be chairman in her eyes and the Central Committee wants to convince him to maintain his position, but his detention has made communication challenging, she said.
Tsai said she would take good care of the party in Ko’s absence so that he could smoothly resume the role of chairman when he returns.
She also vowed to support anyone willing to step up to the challenging role of chairperson.
The party cannot be without leadership, and she would be willing to take on the role of chair herself if others supported her, Tsai said.
Tsai said that her household registration would remain in Taichung’s Cingshuei District (清水) and she would stay engaged in local affairs as promised.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
RSS