People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) yesterday said he would not rule out the possibility of a PFP-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) alliance, while KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) brushed off the talk.
Soong, responding to a question about pan-blue cooperation in Taoyuan, said that both the pan-blue camp and the nation require a consensus.
If any pan-blue camp cooperation results in a clear-cut divide between the pan-blues and the pan-greens, then that would not be good for the nation, he said.
“The door is always open” for those who wish to discuss cooperation, Soong said, adding that he is willing to talk with the KMT, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) or any other party if they propose good policies.
Pressed by reporters on whether he would pair up with Hung, Soong said he would not rule out the possibility, but emphasized that cooperation between parties would not be “to give another party a thrashing, but to find ways out for Taiwan.”
According to a TVBS opinion poll released on Monday, Hung has gained 6 percentage points compared with a previous poll conducted early last month, securing 23 percent of the vote, while Soong’s support has dwindled from 20 percent to 16 percent among pan-blue voters.
DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) garnered 40 percent support in the poll, securing a small increase of 2 percentage points.
Asked whether she would consider teaming up with Soong, either in the form of a Soong-Hung or Hung-Soong presidential ticket, Hung said that she does not think people “would be happy to hear talk about a partnership, as what they would like to see are good policies.”
“Policies that benefit the nation and the public win people’s hearts, and that is way more important than hearsay about a partnership,” she said.
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
STAY VIGILANT: When experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, such as dizziness or fatigue, near a water heater, open windows and doors to ventilate the area Rooftop flue water heaters should only be installed outdoors or in properly ventilated areas to prevent toxic gas from building up, the Yilan County Fire Department said, after a man in Taipei died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Monday last week. The 39-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), an assistant professor at Providence University in Taichung, was at his Taipei home for the holidays when the incident occurred, news reports said. He was taking a shower in the bathroom of a rooftop addition when carbon monoxide — a poisonous byproduct of combustion — leaked from a water heater installed in a poorly ventilated
RSS