Speculation was rife yesterday that former minister of the interior Lee Hong-yuan (李鴻源) may be planning to run for the Chinese Nationalist Party’s presidential primary after a revelation by a political commentator.
While the Democratic Progressive Party appears to have settled on a candidate for next year’s election, the KMT is gripped in a power struggle that has fed the rumor mill. And now, in addition to New Taipei City Mayor and KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), Lee could also be a possible candidate.
Political commentator Chen Min-feng (陳敏鳳) said on a political talk show on Wednesday night that Lee, rather than Chu, is a possible candidate who is favored by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Wu.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
KMT Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞), Lee Hong-yuan’s brother, dismissed it as a rumor.
“I’m family, but I have never heard of [his plan to join the presidential race]. He has said that he would not be absent [from the election campaign], but that only means he would be glad to offer his advice to the party’s presidential candidate and his running mate, whoever they are,” Lee Hung-chun said.
The lawmaker was referring to the former minister’s comment at a press conference in January for his book launch, when he said: “There definitely will be room for my participation in 2016.”
Lee Hong-yuan did not respond to the Taipei Times’ call yesterday, but Chen published her “exclusive interview with Lee” online yesterday after her remarks met with suspicions and denial.
“Lee said that so far no one has contacted him [about his possible candidacy], but he does not rule out playing any role in the KMT’s presidential campaign, including laying out the policy white paper or becoming a candidate,” Chen said.
“He did not deny that some of his friends have offered him advice, including conducting a poll for him, in which he ranked among the top three most favored KMT candidates,” she wrote.
Wu, whose poll numbers are too low for him to become a prospective president, has had long-term issues with Chu, and Ma does not want to cede power to Wang, she said.
“The two have thereby formed an alliance [in picking Lee], who has been asked by Wu after last year’s nine-in-one elections,” she said.
‘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
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS