The four camps of the candidates in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairperson election yesterday gave assessments of their prospects in today’s vote.
The candidates are: KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), who took office on March 9 last year as the party’s youngest-ever chairman; former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who was elected KMT chairman in an unopposed by-election in January 2015 and resigned in January 2016 following the party’s losses in the presidential and legislative elections; Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中); and former Changhua County commissioner Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源).
Chiang spokesman Cheng Chao-hsin (鄭照新) said Chiang’s call for party solidarity has garnered him support, as KMT members have expressed concern that attacks Chu and Chang have instigated against each other might create rifts.
Chu has said that Chang is pushing for Taiwan to unify with China, while Chang has questioned Chu’s knowledge of diplomatic issues.
Chu spokesman Ling Tao (凌濤) said that Chu’s campaign message is clear — the KMT must prosper in next year’s general elections and win the 2024 presidential election.
Chu yesterday issued an open letter critiquing the Democratic Progressive Party, which also calls for KMT members who have not decided which chairperson candidate they will vote for to cast a ballot, Ling said.
A member of Chu’s camp said on condition of anonymity that polls show that support for Chiang was lagging far behind Chu, with Chang expected to be Chu’s main opponent.
Chang’s cross-strait views have caused anxiety in the party, which was a factor in Chu taking a lead in polls in Taichung, a strong support base for Chiang, the person said.
However, Chu’s numbers in Taipei and New Taipei City are more concerning, they said.
Chang spokesman Ho Chi-sheng (何啟聖) said that Chang’s campaign was confident about the support it has generated, but is not certain how many votes it would receive.
There are too many factors at play, Ho said.
Cho spokesman Wu Ming-sheng (吳明聖) said that Cho sought to rally the support of all 370,000 KMT members.
The KMT National Congress today is to hold elections for party delegates alongside the chairperson vote.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
RSS