The daughter of former Examination Yuan president and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) veteran Chiu Chuang-huan (邱創煥) yesterday announced that she would contest the legislative elections as an independent candidate.
Describing herself as a descendant of a deep-blue member at a press conference to announce her bid, Chiu Pei-lin (邱珮琳) dismissed concerns of a pan-blue split and said she had entered the election to serve the public and promote Taiwan’s international reputation.
“My father supports my decision and he encouraged me to defend the rights of the public as a legislator ... I am joining the election because I want to make the pan-blue camp better, not because I want to cause a split,” she said.
Photo: CNA
Chiu Pei-lin, 54, will run for New Taipei City’s (新北市) Zhonghe (中和) legislative seat, which is a traditional pan-blue stronghold. Former Taipei deputy mayor Bai Hsiu-hsiung (白秀雄), who worked for President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration when he was Taipei mayor, will serve as Chiu Pei-lin’s campaign director.
“People should elect the best candidate in a legislative election, rather than just choose between different political parties,” she said.
Also speaking at the press conference was Joanna Lei (雷倩), a former KMT legislator and a member of the KMT’s ally the New Party, who will contest the legislative election as an independent candidate in New Taipei City.
Lei said she and Chiu Pei-lin would seek to form a legislative caucus with another second-generation pan-blue political figure who would run as an independent.
“I urge pan-blue supporters to vote for President Ma in the presidential election, but support us in the legislative election … We will make people’s needs a top priority and seek to become a decisive force in politics,” Lei said.
Lei, daughter of former Vice Admiral Lei Hsueh-ming (雷學明), left the KMT in 2007 and joined the New Party.
Both Lei and Chiu Pei-lin insisted that their election bids would have a positive impact on the pan-blue camp.
However, their decision to contest the election as independents comes on the heels of a pan-blue split between the KMT and the People First Party (PFP), which has said it would soon name a roster of at-large legislators.
KMT spokesperson Charles Chen (陳以信) yesterday called for pan-blue unity following the announcements, and urged Lei and Chiu Pei-lin to work with the KMT in the legislative election.
“We urged them to keep pan-blue unity a priority so that the Democratic Progressive Party doesn’t profit from a split in the pan-blue camp,” he said.
Chen also repeated the KMT’s call for collaboration with the PFP in legislative nominations.
PFP spokesperson Wu Kun-yu (吳崑玉) yesterday ignored the KMT’s calls for collaboration, and said the party would soon present its legislative nomination list.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by