The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Saturday elected 29 members to its Central Standing Committee, with Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) receiving the most votes.
Fu, who represents a constituency in Hualien County, was elected to the committee with 1,234 votes, the highest number among the 40 KMT members who were vying for a seat in the party’s top decisionmaking body.
A controversial figure in the opposition party, Fu had his KMT membership revoked in 2009 when he ran for Hualien County magistrate in defiance of the party’s request not to. He won the election.
Photo: CNA
Fu’s wife, Hsu Chen-wei (徐榛蔚), was selected as the party’s candidate for that position in 2018 and is now the county magistrate.
Fu’s strong backing in the committee vote was driven largely by his support for KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), a party member said on condition of anonymity.
Fu has been assigned to several campaign posts in preparation for the local elections in November, the party member said.
The strong win indicated vigorous grassroots support, which greatly helps Fu’s efforts to organize the party’s campaign and recruit candidates, another KMT member who prefers anonymity said.
Six other incumbent legislators were among the 29 people elected on Saturday to the committee.
Among them were Nantou County Councilor Yu Hao (游顥) with 1,086 votes, former Tainan County Council Deputy Speaker Chen Tsung-hsing (陳宗興) with 1,049 and Legislator-at-Large Wu I-ding (吳怡玎) with 987.
The newly elected committee members are expected to assume their posts on Wednesday.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury