Some politicians are made, others are born. Looking at the recent actions of first-time legislative hopeful and son of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator-at-large Kao Yu-jen (
From Kao's involvement in a debate in the legislature over an intellectual property rights law last Tuesday; his co-hosting of an anti-arms budget rally with the Democratic Action Alliance last month, to his trip to the local Tainan KMT headquarters earlier this month to call for a cross-party vote allocation strategy, the actions of the Shih Hsin University professor have put him in the spotlight.
Besides his tendency to act out on his beliefs, Kao's political ambitions are also worthy of note because of his party leanings. Despite the fact that his father is an old guard KMT politician, his wife Jessica Chou (
"My general political standing is pro-blue, but I feel that the blue camp needs change," Kao told the Taipei Times on Saturday.
"We need a completely new pan-blue camp with a new vision. I decided to join the PFP because I feel that the party is in a better position to revolutionize the pan-blue alliance," he said, adding that he dislikes some of the KMT's administrative practices.
Kao said that since the pan-blue camp is set to merge soon anyway, the important thing is for the parties to work together to win a maximum number of seats in the Dec. 11 legislative elections.
The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said. Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said. The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s
Military photovoltaic projects have been found to have used Chinese-made devices blacklisted by the government, including Huawei Technologies Co routers, the Ministry of National Defense’s Armaments Bureau said on Thursday. An ongoing investigation has identified the illegal use of 128 current transformers, two routers and a data reader at the Hungchailin Army Base, Pinghai Navy Base and Tri-Service General Hospital’s Songshan branch, it said. The devices were manufactured in the Chinese factories of German solar energy equipment supplier SMA Solar Technology, Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Delta Electronics Co, Chinese electronics manufacturer Huawei and Taiwanese industrial PC maker Advantech Co, the bureau said. The bureau’s
Hong Kong’s Andy Lau (劉德華) on Wednesday announced that he would perform in Taiwan for the first time since 2013, with four shows at the Taipei Arena from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3. The concerts are part of Lau’s upcoming “Today... is the Day” tour, which began in Shanghai yesterday. He is also to perform in Singapore and Malaysia as part of the tour. In a news release, Lau said it felt good to be able to rehearse his dancing and singing for the tour, even though he had to don a face mask. “Holding these concerts has been something I have
Beijing’s recent provocative actions against the Philippines in the South China Sea were partly meant as a “dress rehearsal” for the invasion of Taiwan, former US deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger said at a Heritage Foundation forum in Washington on Tuesday. Beijing’s blocking of a Philippine resupply mission on June 17 with unprecedented violence had multiple implications. “What they’re doing is trying to demonstrate that they can blockade, create a sense of futility and discredit the idea that the United States is going to help not only the Philippines, but by extension Taiwan,” Pottinger said. Pottinger was referring to a clash