Jhongli Deputy Mayor Lin Hsiang-mei (林香美) yesterday said she was quitting the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) after alleging on Monday that the party had deceived her during the nomination process for next month’s Taoyuan County legislative by-election.
The KMT nominated former KMT legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) as its candidate for the by-election, scheduled for Feb. 27.
Lin yesterday told a press conference that she would run in the election, adding that she would push for reform via a “middle way.”
On Monday, Lin and Taoyuan County Councilor Wu Yu-tung (吳餘東) alleged they were misled by their party during the nomination process.
Lin had registered her candidacy before the KMT nominated Chen as its candidate.
Rebutting the allegations, the KMT’s Culture and Communications Committee issued a statement, saying they “did not tally with the facts” and that Lin and Wu “twisted” what had happened.
At the time, the KMT threatened to expel from the party individuals defying a party ban from registering if they did not drop out by Friday.
The committee said initial negotiations between aspiring candidates were handled by local “heavyweights” and the party headquarters was not involved.
Opinion polls conducted by the KMT headquarters showed that Jhongli Mayor Ye Bu-liang (葉步樑) topped the list, followed by Lin, Chen and Wu Yu-tung, the statement said.
During the initial negotiation process, the statement said, the party was considering nominating Chen if the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were to select former DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) as its flag bearer. The party would nominate Ye or Lin if the DPP named current Taoyuan County Councilor Huang Jen-chu (黃仁杼) as its candidate, it said.
The DPP eventually nominated Huang, but the KMT negotiations broke down. The statement said Lin did not obtain the party’s consent before she registered her candidacy because of “personal grievances,” further complicating the situation.
The committee said they did not nominate Ye or Lin because it did not want them to attack each other. The party decided to pick Chen after KMT Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) intervened because Chen was thought to have the best chance of winning.
The statement said Wu was never in the running because he lagged behind in the polls and King had told him in person during a meeting on Dec. 7 that he would not be selected.
The Taoyuan by-election will fill the vacancy left by KMT Legislator John Wu (吳志揚), who resigned after winning last month’s Taoyuan County commissioner election.
Three more by-elections will be held concurrently on Feb. 27 in Hsinchu, Chiayi and Hualien. The by-elections are being held after three lawmakers won the city mayor and county commissioner elections last month.
They are Chiu Ching-chun (邱鏡淳) of the KMT who won the Hsinchu County commissioner election, Chang Hwa-kuan (張花冠) of the DPP, who secured Chiayi County and Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁), who withdrew from the KMT to run as an independent and prevailed in the Hualien County commissioner election.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we