Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), widely seen as a top contender to lead the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), yesterday dodged questions on whether she would run in the party’s upcoming chairman election.
Asked about the race, Lu shifted focus to Tropical Storm Podul, which is forecast to pass over Taiwan tomorrow and Thursday.
“Preparing for Podul is my top priority right now,” she said upon arriving at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport from a trip to Australia, adding that she had monitored the storm’s progress while in Brisbane.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Lu, also considered a leading KMT hopeful for the 2028 presidential election, began a week-long visit to eastern and central Australia on Tuesday last week, shortly after the White House announced a provisional 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods that took effect on Thursday last week.
Before her trip, she said such exchanges could help Taiwan “explore overseas markets other than the US.”
Her itinerary focused on economic, trade, tourism and energy cooperation, the Taichung City Government said.
She on Friday met Brisbane Mayor Adrian Schrinner and City Councilor Sandy Landers, later telling reporters she had “met with all the persons we wanted to meet with and visited all the constructions as planned.”
Speculation over Lu’s interest in the chairman race began earlier this year when incumbent KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) appeared hesitant about seeking re-election.
The KMT is to hold its chairman election on Oct. 18, with registration set for Sept. 4 to 5, shortly after the second round of recall votes on Aug. 23 targeting seven KMT lawmakers.
Although Lu has not said if she would run, some interpreted remarks she made to Taiwanese expatriates in Australia on Saturday — stressing the concept of “he” (和), meaning peace and cooperation — as a sign she might sit out the election.
Citing an anonymous source, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported that Lu might not join the race to honor her pledge to complete her second mayoral term, which ends next year.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS