In the latest and perhaps most drastic attempt to boost support for his party with less than 48 hours remaining before the local elections, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he will resign as chairman if the KMT fails to get at least 11 candidates elected.
"If the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wins a majority in the elections, it means that the KMT is not good enough. I will resign as party chairman if the KMT fails to secure at least half of all seats in the elections," he said.
Eight cities and counties are currently under KMT control. As the party did not nominate any candidates in Kinmen and Lienchiang counties, by referring to "half of the seats," Ma apparently meant winning the election in at least 11 cities and counties.
Ma, who doubles as Taipei mayor, made the announcement yesterday at a press conference titled "Vote for yourself, be responsible for history" at the campaign headquarters of the KMT's Taipei County commissioner candidate, Chou Hsi-wei (
While the elections are being held to appoint new county commissioners and mayors, Ma urged voters to view the poll as a chance to cast a vote of no confidence in the DPP government.
"The DPP achieved nothing during its five years as the ruling party, and can only boost its support with smear campaigns and bribery," Ma said.
Liao Feng-teh (廖風德), head of the KMT's organization and development committee, said yesterday that the party's final strategy was to spur on "all pan-blue voters" to support the camp's candidates with "shocking" measures, especially in areas like Taipei, Ilan, Nantou, Changhua, Yunlin and Pingtung counties and Chiayi City.
Meanwhile, stepping up pressure on the DPP's candidate for Taipei County, Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉), Chou's team yesterday played a video which allegedly proves that Luo paid people to participate in a DPP campaign rally on Sunday.
The video showed someone giving away money on a bus.
"After double-checking the bus company's service list, we are sure that the bus took passengers from Luchou County to the DPP's rally last Sunday," People First Party Legislator Lee Yung-ping (
KMT Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) said the Chou team has reported the matter to the Banciao District Prosecutors' Office, and urged the prosecutors to complete their investigation as soon as possible.
The video was the pan-blue camp's latest piece of "evidence" allegedly proving that Luo's team had been involved in large-scale vote-buying at the DPP rally last Sunday. They claim that Luo's team paid each rally participant NT$150.
As of press time, the Banciao District Prosecutors' Office had subpoenaed 17 members of Luo's campaign team but had not yet searched his campaign office.
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
SOLUTIONS NEEDED: Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers due to population decline, the minister of economic affairs said in Washington President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration is considering a plan to import labor to deal with an impending shortage of engineers and other highly skilled workers, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said in Washington on Tuesday. Kuo was leading a delegation attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit. Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers for high-end manufacturing jobs by 2040, he said. Ministry of Economic Affairs officials are still calculating the precise number of workers that are needed, as it works on loosening immigration restrictions and creating incentives, Kuo said. Taiwanese firms operating factories in the US and other countries would