The pan-blue camp will win a majority of seats in the year-end legislative elections, Chinese Nation-alist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) predicted yesterday, while emphasizing that a pan-blue majority will also be beneficial for cross-strait relations.
Speaking to foreign and local media at a press conference yesterday, Lien answered questions about the possibility of his resignation as KMT chairman, his recent call for a new Cabinet and the blue camp's chances in Saturday's legislative elections.
Criticizing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for attempting to destroy the KMT, Lien said that he did not believe the DPP could solve the cross-strait "problem."
In the 50 years that the KMT was the ruling party, Lien said, Taiwan's economic development and foreign relations were both good, unlike the situation now after Chen's first term.
The KMT supports the status quo, Lien said, and added that within the boundaries of the status quo, he believes there are still a number of issues that can be negotiated with China. Lien was guardedly optimistic throughout the conference, repeatedly stressing his belief that the pan-blue camp will win a majority of seats when the media asked him about alternate scenarios.
Without stating the exact number of seats he expects the alliance to win, Lien told reporters that the pan-blue camp's three campaign strategies -- controlling the number of candidates nominated, strengthening weaker candidates, and allocating votes -- were enough to maintain the majority of seats in the legislature needed to check Chen's "recklessness."
Lien did predict, however, that the pan-blue camp would only win by a narrow margin. When pressed for answers about his controversial call on Sunday for a new Cabinet if the pan-blue camp "wins" the legislative elections, Lien was low key.
Lien said he felt that the elections would bring new hope to the country.
While no one disputes the president's right to nominate Cabinet members, Lien said, he hoped that the government and the leaders of the DPP would allow the emergence of a new and capable governing team when the people's consensus is manifested -- through a pan-blue majority.
"It is very strange. Right now, we have a minority government in power, with the majority in opposition," Lien said, adding that no normal democratic state should be in such a situation.
When questioned by foreign reporters about the pan-blue camp's plans should neither side win a majority, Lien acknowledged this possibility was likely.
However, he said, the pan-blue alliance has many friends among the independent candidates running this year. The pan-blue camp should therefore be able to gain some support among the independent legislative bloc, he said..
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
RSS