An aide of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairmanship candidate Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) yesterday tried to turn tomorrow’s election into a competition between the party’s disbanded factions.
“The DPP will have a greater chance of splitting if Koo wins the chairmanship election, because the [disbanded] New Tide faction might decide to leave the party,” Koo’s campaign manager and former secretary-general of the Presidential Office Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟) said yesterday.
Chen made the remarks during an interview with a Tainan-based radio station in an attempt to appeal to party members who oppose the disbanded New Tide faction.
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
The DPP voted to dissolve all its factions in July 2006, but the New Tide faction, which often drew the ire of the other factions, has been accused of disbanding in name only.
Koo’s rival in the election, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), has been labeled a member of the faction, despite the fact that she did not become a registered DPP member until 2004.
The two candidates have outlined different approaches to leading the party, with the 82-year-old Koo concentrating on the party’s role in advocating Taiwan’s independence, while the younger Tsai, who has served as vice premier and Mainland Council Affairs chairwoman, has proposed a pragmatic approach to dealing with cross-strait relations and other issues.
Chen suggested Tsai compete with Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) in the 2010 Taipei mayoral election, saying that the next election for local government heads will be an important step for the DPP to regaining power in the 2012 presidential election.
In related news, DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday that he would form a shadow government to watch over the incoming KMT administration after handing over his position to his successor on Wednesday.
“I won’t take a do-nothing attitude on the development of the DPP, even when I am a normal party member,” Hsieh said.
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
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS