Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's (
"If Mayor Ma will not give up his candidacy, I think I will commit suicide," retired general Ma Ho-ling (
His father's statements have put the mayor in an embarrassing position.
Ma Ho-ling said that his son "has no experience" in party operations, and that only Lien could unite the pan-blue camp.
In response, the mayor said that he respected his father's opinion, but planned to continue to campaign for the chairmanship.
Meanwhile, the mayor's rival, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"When did I say such things? I think this is an unfair question from the media, which seems to be partial to the other side," Wang said.
He said his report would focus on plans for leading and developing the party, as well as the policies on cross-strait relations and how candidates plan to handle the party's assets.
Both the mayor and Wang are scheduled to appear before the committee to outline their intentions for the party if they were to be elected chairman.
They will each give a 30-minute report on why they would be the best person to lead the party. After that, as many as 20 committee members will have three minutes each to ask questions, and the two candidates will each have 10 minutes to answer all the questions.
One committee member, KMT Legislator Ho Tsai-feng (
Ho said that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has tried hard to target the KMT's efforts to deal with its assets, and she asked that the candidates give a clear explanation of what they would do regarding this situation.
Lien has repeatedly said that he has no interest in seeking re-election in the July 16 poll.
But recently he said he would rethink the matter.
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Residents have called on the Taipei City Government to reconsider its plan to demolish a four-decades-old pedestrian overpass near Daan Forest Park. The 42-year-old concrete and steel structure that serves as an elevated walkway over the intersection of Heping and Xinsheng roads is to be closed on Tuesday in preparation for demolition slated for completion by the end of the month. However, in recent days some local residents have been protesting the planned destruction of the intersection overpass that is rendered more poetically as “sky bridge” in Chinese. “This bridge carries the community’s collective memory,” said a man surnamed Chuang
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm earlier today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, in this year's Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am, the CWA said. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) with a 100km radius, it said. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA meteorologist Huang En-hung (黃恩宏) said. However, a more accurate forecast would be made on Wednesday, when Yinxing is