Hualien County Deputy Commissioner Chang Chi-ming (張志明) yesterday announced his withdrawal from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to run in the Hualien County commissioner election as an independent.
Chang lashed out at the KMT for its failure to follow the primary process by seeking to nominate former health minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) and urged the party to take the matter seriously and respect the voices of residents in Hualien.
“The KMT’s rough handling of the primary process violated legal procedures and damaged procedural justice,” Chang said in a press conference.
“I want to do my job rather than play political games and hopefully my withdrawal will help the party hear the voice of the people of Hualien,” he said.
Chang’s move created another pan-blue split for the KMT in the local government head elections in December and sparked growing concern within the KMT about the party’s performance in the year-end elections.
The KMT suspended the primary election in May and barred KMT Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) from taking part in the primary because he was found guilty in his first and second trials in two cases. It restarted the primary process later after Yeh, the party’s preferred candidate, agreed to join.
Yeh, however, lost the primary to former Hualien County Agricultural Development Office director Tu Li-hua (杜麗華), forcing the KMT to nominate Tu as its candidate.
In response, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) acknowledged yesterday that a series of recent pan-blue splits had given rise to a sense of panic within the party, but shrugged off concerns about its performance in the elections.
“There are always several cases of party members withdrawing for the local government elections,” Wu said.
The KMT is also having trouble finding a candidate for the Yunlin County commissioner election after Chang Li-shan (張麗善) withdrew her candidacy on Monday.
The defeat of Chang Ken-hui (張艮輝) in the Yunlin legislative by-election to the Democratic Progressive Party’s Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) and the split of local party factions behind Chang Ken-hui and candidate Chang Hui-yuan (張輝元) were the main factors behind her withdrawal.
Wu said the party would choose a new candidate within two or three days and that the candidate would be a party member from Yunlin with integrity and a clean image.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese
RSS