Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday formally registered to run for the party’s top job next month and outlined six goals if elected.
The KMT is scheduled to hold elections for its chairperson and National Congress delegates on Sept. 25, after they were postponed from July 24 due to a local COVID-19 outbreak in May.
Chu, who served two terms as New Taipei City mayor from December 2010 to December 2018, announced on Aug. 2 that he would join the race for KMT chairperson. He was the KMT chairman from January 2015 to January 2016, but resigned after losing the 2016 presidential election.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
At about 10am yesterday, Chu arrived at KMT headquarters in Taipei to complete his registration as candidate.
Chu said he holds six essential goals for the position, the top one being to win the local elections next year and bring the KMT back to power in 2024.
The second is to strengthen the KMT’s leadership, consolidate its power and make it more united, he said.
Third, the KMT should gain international respect and connect with countries around the world, he said.
Fourth, the KMT must play an essential role in cross-strait relations, he said, adding that the party should act as a stabilizing and peaceful force while reconnecting the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and restoring platforms for cross-strait exchange.
“Young people are our hope,” he said, describing his fifth goal for the KMT: to place greater emphasis on young people.
Chu’s sixth goal is that party reform must continue, he said, urging KMT members to pool resources into making the KMT better.
Registration for the chairperson election ends today.
Local media reports said that KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), who in February announced that he would seek re-election, is expected to complete his registration today, along with former Taichung mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) and former KMT legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒).
As a legislator, Chiang represents Taichung’s eighth electoral district, while Yen had represented the city’s second electoral district.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard