The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday announced plans to appoint six new members, including Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC) chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), to its Central Advisory Committee.
The other five are former Straits Exchange Foundation vice chairman Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉); Tien Tsai-mai (田在勱), manager of Chung Yuan Christian University’s Executive Operation Office for Industry-Academia Cooperation; Chiu Kun-shuan (邱坤玄), a professor at National Chengchi University’s Graduate Institute of East Asia Studies; Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中); and foreign capital analyst Kirk Yang (楊應超).
The KMT said that it would make the proposal at its next National Congress.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, Jaw said that he has not chosen a running mate for the 2024 presidential election.
He was speaking at a BCC event on the first day of work after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Jaw, whose KMT membership application was recently accepted, has also said that he intends to run for party chairperson in this year’s election.
Jaw in 1993 left the KMT with a group of others to form the New Party.
Asked whether he would step down if former Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) decided to run for chairperson, Jaw said he believed that Han did not entertain such thoughts.
“Why else would he ask me to run, if he himself intended to?” Jaw asked.
Asked about Han’s recent Facebook posts on politics and government policy, Jaw said that people have their own opinions on national affairs, including Han, who is a KMT Central Standing Committee member and a former mayor.
Making such opinions known does not necessarily reflect an intent to run for public office, Jaw said.
Asked about the number of people contending for the position of chairperson — former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), Han, former KMT chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), KMT Central Standing Committee member Sean Lien (連勝文) and KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) — Jaw said the more the merrier.
A party should not be afraid of having too many contenders, but should worry if it has none, Jaw said.
Asked about concerns that the pro-unification views of Hung, Chou and Han could “scare off” centrist or younger voters, Jaw said that everyone is entitled to their stance.
“One could say, that these views could draw out voters of that inclination,” he said.
Jaw has also made his intent to run for president in 2024 clear.
Asked if he would partner with Han, Jaw said that he had not talked with him about the issue, nor had he given it much thought.
Jaw said should both he and Han want to secure a KMT presidential ticket, they — and any other party members — could seek to be nominated though the same system.
The party should not be split every time there is an election, and a system with a fair set of rules should be implemented, Jaw said.
Should Han wish to arrange a meeting between himself, Jaw and Chiang, Jaw said that he would gladly attend.
More communication is good, and is certainly better than under-the-table maneuvering, he added.
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
STAY VIGILANT: When experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, such as dizziness or fatigue, near a water heater, open windows and doors to ventilate the area Rooftop flue water heaters should only be installed outdoors or in properly ventilated areas to prevent toxic gas from building up, the Yilan County Fire Department said, after a man in Taipei died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Monday last week. The 39-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), an assistant professor at Providence University in Taichung, was at his Taipei home for the holidays when the incident occurred, news reports said. He was taking a shower in the bathroom of a rooftop addition when carbon monoxide — a poisonous byproduct of combustion — leaked from a water heater installed in a poorly ventilated
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