Only two of three candidates for the KMT Central Standing Committee election from "Ma troop" -- Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) top aides and supporters -- won seats on the party's key 31-member decision-making body.
The two successful candidates were KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (
Former deputy Taipei mayor Ou Chin-de (
KMT Legislator Hung Yu-chin (
Legislators made up more than half of those elected, including legislative caucus head Pan Wei-kang (
Incumbent committee member Lien Sheng-wen (
A total of 106 candidates ran in the election, and 1,395 party delegates cast their votes around the country.
Ma yesterday denied that the party had prepared a list of preferred committee members before the election, and restated his determination to wipe out bribery in the party's elections.
"There are many ways of campaigning in the elections for central committee members ... The party does not nominate or promote any candidates. We don't have preferred candidates, either," he said after casting his vote at KMT headquarters.
The KMT has revised its regulations, requiring that candidates not send out gifts or buy votes in elections.
During the campaign period, three candidates had to withdraw because of bribery allegations.
"I can't say that the election was 100 percent [clean], but I think we made big progress compared with past elections," Ma said.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese