Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), after what she described as a “long deliberation,” announced yesterday that she would not run for a legislative seat as an independent candidate, nor would she accept the New Party’s offer to be listed as one of the party’s legislator-at-large nominees.
Speculation had been rife that Hung, whose presidential candidacy was rescinded by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) last month, would run for legislator in New Taipei City’s Yonghe District (永和).
Hung refused to confirm or deny the rumor on Thursday, saying she would provide an answer yesterday, which was the last day of candidacy registration.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Hung called a press conference at 3pm, officially announcing her decision that, in order to continue to push for reform in the KMT, she would stay in the party, indicating that running for legislator in Yonghe would be out of the question, as it would cost her KMT membership.
“I have said [in the extraordinary party congress that revoked her presidential candidacy] that I would not give up on the party. I could not let go of my responsibility and feelings for the KMT,” she said. “I know many in the past 20 years have left the party out of disappointment and anger, but staying is definitely not easy, because the KMT has to undergo reforms to win back people’s hearts.”
“I am very grateful, but I apologize to New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明), who has, since the extraordinary party congress, tried to talk me into accepting his offer on the New Party’s legislator-at-large list,” Hung said, adding the New Party “walks on the right path” with its “unyielding stance against Taiwanese independence, dedication to safeguarding the Republic of China and maintaining cross-strait peace.”
“With its combative legislator-at-large nominees, I believe that those who have been disappointed [with the KMT] now have an alternative,” Hung said.
Among the “combative” legislator-at-large candidates nominated by the New Party are former Central Police University professor Yeh Yu-lan (葉毓蘭) and former KMT legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅), occupying the first and the second place respectively on the party’s 10-nominee list, both of whom made front-page news during the Sunflower movement last year by castigating the protesters and the occupation of the legislative Yuan’s main chamber.
Yeh said on Thursday that she has withdrawn from the KMT for the New Party’s nomination, while Chiu said he would leave the membership issue to the KMT.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
RSS