Media personality and Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong’s (趙少康) request to return to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has been approved, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday, adding that Jaw would be appointed to the party’s Central Advisory Committee after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Jaw on Monday announced that he had submitted an application to restore his membership in the party, and that he did not rule out entering the race for KMT chairperson.
“Mr Jaw’s return to the KMT at this time will certainly help to strengthen the KMT’s power, social support and influence,” Chiang said in a statement.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“It is also deeply meaningful for the unity of pan-blue forces,” he said, adding that he welcomed the development.
Chiang said that the party had already planned to nominate additional members to its Central Advisory Committee to give the party guidance on policies and help direct it after the Lunar New Year holiday, which this year runs from Wednesday next week to Feb. 16.
Chiang would include Jaw in a list of appointees to be released after the holiday, he said, citing Jaw’s “extensive political experience and social influence.”
Chiang expressed the hope that Jaw’s appointment would boost the KMT’s supporter base, saying that he welcomes others to “return to the KMT family.”
The chairperson’s role is to “selflessly unite all supporting forces,” Chiang said, adding that he looks forward to more people with like views being attracted to join the party.
Jaw, who hosts several political talk shows, formerly served as a legislator, a Taipei city councilor and head of the Environmental Protection Administration.
Jaw cofounded the New Party, but retired from politics after losing the Taipei mayoral race to then-Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in 1994.
“It is always delightful when old friends come home,” Chiang told yesterday’s final meeting of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee before the Lunar New Year holiday.
“We must expand the KMT’s social support and not only unite all those who can be united, but also unite under a system to allow the KMT to operate sustainably” he said.
The party’s chairperson by-election last year required candidates to qualify as voters and to have been KMT members for at least one year, but the chair election rules do not require membership of more than one year, but only that candidates be members who have in the past served on the Central Advisory Committee or the Central Standing Committee.
Jaw told reporters in Taipei yesterday that if he does not qualify for this year’s KMT chairperson election, he was unlikely to run in the next chairperson election.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
RSS