Taitung County Commissioner Kuang Li-cheng (鄺麗貞) yesterday lost in her attempt to secure the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) nomination after she was defeated in the party primary by KMT Legislator Justin Huang (黃健庭).
Huang won 45.6 percent to Kuang’s 37.1 percent after the result of a party member vote was combined with that of a telephone poll, meaning Huang will represent the party in the county commissioner election scheduled for December.
Kuang won the member vote, beating Huang and the other hopeful, Taitung County Council Vice Speaker Rao Ching-ling (饒慶玲), but received only 25 percent of the telephone poll vote, while Huang won mroe than 54 percent.
The final results were determined by a combination of the vote and the opinion poll, with the poll accounting for 70 percent and the vote accounting for 30 percent.
Kuang did not make any statements about the result.
Kuang stirred controversy and drew widespread criticism last year for failing to cancel a 13-day trip to Europe ahead of a typhoon. The KMT suspended her party rights last August, but restored them later in December.
She accused Huang of smearing her reputation via text messages earlier this month and threatened to withdraw from the party and join the election as an independent candidate, but later agreed to compete with Huang and Rao in the primary.
Meanwhile, Tainan City Councilor Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介), a KMT member, won the party primary in the city yesterday over rival National Cheng Kung University professor Ting Jen-fang (丁仁方), meaning Hsieh will represent the party in the year-end Tainan mayoral election.
The KMT has completed the primary process in most cities and counties, but will delay it in Taipei County, Taoyuan County, Taichung City, Taichung County, Tainan County and Pingtung County because the six cities and counties could be approved for status upgrade.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated