Tension between the two competitors for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship lessened yesterday with the help of incumbent Lien Chan (
Lien invited Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), to the party's headquarters yesterday afternoon for a chat.
Speaking after the hour-long meeting, Wang and Ma said that Lien had urged them to work to unite the party and increase its support base.
Although the verbal sparring between the Wang and Ma camps heated up this week with both sides accusing the other of negative campaigning, the two men seemed friendly yesterday, going so far as to hug for the cameras.
Yesterday's meeting seemed to have resolved the conflict between the two men over Ma's campaign ads.
`BLACK GOLD' POLITICS
Ma's most recent TV and print ads urge KMT members to draw a clear line against "black gold" politics within the party by voting for him.
The Wang camp has complained about the ads, which they said indirectly smeared Wang by implying that, compared with Ma, Wang has a history of corruption.
The Ma camp has consistently denied such an interpretation, while complaining about the attacks on Ma by by members of the Wang camp.
In response to the complaints, Lien had originally asked both camps to report on negative campaigning to the Central Standing Committee next week.
The two men said yesterday that there was no longer any need for them to discuss negative campaigning during the KMT Central Standing Committee's meeting next week.
Wang said that he had never had any issues with Ma's anti-corruption ads.
However, he said, "corruption" should be used in the future tense, given that the KMT does not have any "black gold" practices at present.
WRONG IDEA
Such ads, he said, might give the outside world the mistaken impression that such practices still exist in the KMT.
Ma echoed Wang's statement that "black gold" doesn't exist now in the KMT.
He said the ads reflected his desire to prevent the such practices from occurring.
In related news, Wang told a breakfast meeting with representatives of several media outlets that he believes that about 60 percent of KMT members will vote in the July 16 election.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS