After an extraordinary committee meeting, the KMT's election commission in Taichung yesterday decided to accept KMT Deputy Secretary-General Jason Hu's (胡志強) application to run for Taichung City mayor, putting an end to a dispute over his candidacy.
On Thursday Hu had faced the possibility of being disqualified as a candidate in Taichung because Chuang Lung-chang (
The dual registration nearly caused Hu's candidacy in Tai-chung to be declared invalid, even though he had stated his intention to withdraw his application in Taipei County.
On learning that he had been accepted as a candidate in Tai-chung, Hu said he was pleased.
"I am sorry for causing such unnecessary trouble. I thank the residents of both Taichung City and Taipei County for their warmest support. I will do my best here in Taichung," Hu said in Taichung.
He said that he had been determined to run for the mayor's job from the very beginning and that he hoped the dispute would not tarnish his image.
KMT Chairman Lien Chan
Lin Jih-jia (
A local media organization reported yesterday that Hu had met privately with Lien yesterday morning to seek his approval and understanding.
Refusing to confirm such a meeting took place, KMT spokeswoman Chen Feng-shin (
Hu's inconsistency, however, is expected to have a negative impact on his campaign in Taichung.
"Whatever the impact will be, Hu has to shoulder the responsibility himself," said party secretary-general Lin Feng-cheng (
Media reports yesterday speculated that the KMT and People First Party (PFP) had reached a deal to cooperate with each other by supporting a PFP candidate in Taichung. Hu's insistence on running in Taichung had, the speculation suggested, ruined the deal and led to his dual registration.
Chao Shou-po (
"In terms of bipartisan cooperation, the KMT has not reached out to the PFP for any type of contacts," Chao said.
After Hu's candidacy is finalized, he will compete in a primary with other candidates in Taichung City including legislators Huang Hsien-chou (黃顯洲), Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) and speaker of the Taichung City Council Chang-Lao Kuei-chuan (張廖貴專).
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats