Media personality and Broadcasting Corp of China (中廣) chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) yesterday said he would seek the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) nomination to run in the 2024 presidential election.
Jaw, a former lawmaker who in 1993 left the KMT with several other members to form the New Party, on Monday last week said that he had submitted a request to restore his KMT membership, and that he would not rule out entering this year’s race for KMT chairperson.
Jaw said he was also open to making a bid for city mayor or county commissioner in next year’s local elections, or appearing on the ticket in the 2024 presidential election.
Photo: CNA
He said that former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), who was the KMT presidential candidate in last year’s election, at a meeting in September last year urged him to run for KMT chairman.
Asked by reporters in Taipei whether the early announcement of his interest in running in the KMT presidential primary was aimed at blocking a possible bid by former KMT chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), Jaw said: “No one can block anyone... [Chu] will still run if he wants to.”
Chu, a former New Taipei City mayor, represented the KMT in the 2016 presidential election, which he lost to then-Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
He is also widely seen as a potential candidate for KMT chairman.
Asked whether he had discussed his decision with former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT, Jaw said: “I did not discuss it with anyone.”
Jaw said he felt the Tsai administration was not doing a good job.
“I think I have a chance, and I think I have a lot of ideas to make Taiwan better, to make Taiwan greater,” he said.
Asked whether he would consider being a vice presidential candidate, Jaw said: “Probably not.”
KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) in a statement on Wednesday last week said that Jaw’s request to return to the KMT had been approved.
Jaw would be appointed to the KMT’s Central Advisory Committee after the Lunar New Year holiday, Chiang said.
According to KMT regulations, a party member must have served in the Central Advisory Committee or Central Standing Committee to run in the chairperson election.
Additional reporting by CNA
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS