Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) had little chance of making a clean sweep of the 17 seats up for grabs in the Dec. 5 elections for county commissioners and city mayors.
Wu, the former KMT secretary-general, made the comments in Hualien while President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) led party officials and Central Standing Committee (CSC) members in campaigning for Hualien County commissioner candidate Tu Li-hua (杜麗華) yesterday.
Later on, during the CSC meeting, Wu said that if the KMT could hold on to Nantou, Changhua and the counties and cities north of them, the party could view that as a victory.
He said that the four counties of Yilan, Hsinchu, Pingtung and Chiayi were the most important and that the party would be attacking and defending in equal measure.
Wu also said that he would take responsibility for any failure in the elections, as the candidates were all nominated during his tenure as part secretary-general.
Wu became premier three months ago.
BATTLES
Earlier in the day, Wu said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) faced considerable difficulties in putting forth viable candidates in cities and counties where the KMT had a strong base, adding that the DPP’s only hope in those places was to try and team up with peripheral forces from the pan-blue camp.
The KMT faced a similar uphill struggle in localities where the pan-green forces were strong, so the party could not afford to be complacent, Wu said.
Ma will preside over four other CSC meetings in central and southern Taiwan ahead of the elections to raise support for KMT candidates.
HSIEH
Meanwhile, former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday that the DPP should be able to win seven seats.
Campaigning for DPP candidates in Pingtung County, Hsieh said the DPP should be able to hold on to Yunlin, Pingtung and Chiayi counties and win four seats, including one in Ilan County.
Some areas under DPP administration are not featuring in the elections as they are set to become special municipalities administered directly under the central government and will hold elections next year.
Standing alongside Pingtung County Commissioner Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻), Hsieh said that the government’s recent policies regarding the import of bone-in US beef have hurt Taiwan’s beef industry.
He advised voters to boycott Ma’s KMT over his failed policies and called on Ma to “resolve the problem of US beef instead of only worrying about elections.”
Council of Agriculture officials said yesterday that the controversial US bone-in beef would begin arriving “in the next few days.”
PRESIDENTIAL BID
In response to questions regarding who would represent the DPP for presidential elections in 2012, Hsieh said that for the moment the focus should be on the local elections.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
RSS