As KMT maverick James Soong (
Reports of quick disciplinary action came a day after President Lee Teng-hui (
Chien Wei-chang (
Chien said he hopes to get the package ready for discussion at the next meeting of the party's central standing committee on Wednesday.
Soong is about to face the music for declaring his candidacy for president without permission from the party and for launching verbal attacks against the KMT's leadership.
Soong's party membership could either be suspended or revoked, Chien said.
The first wave of action will be targeted at Soong alone, while elected officials supporting Soong will be disciplined in subsequent waves, he said.
The evaluation and discipline committee has been collecting data and preparing for the action since Soong declared his intent to run, Chien said. "Now everything is ready and we are waiting for an order from Chang to hold a meeting of the committee," he said.
A lively debate is expected at the disciplinary committee's meeting, as Chien said "the matter may be put to a vote if necessary."
Soong was not rolling over yesterday, however, as he held a press conference to counter allegations that he had misspent the budget during his term as provincial governor.
The allegations surfaced earlier in the day, when Su Chih-chang (
"Nobody knows where this money went, or which project it was applied to, or through which channels it was distributed," Su said. "I think Soong should disclose the facts.''
Soong hit back later in the afternoon, with the aid of diagrams and charts showing exactly what had been done with the budget at his disposal.
"All tax revenues have to be allotted in accordance with each county's budgetary accounting items and they are supervised by the county councils, thus I was not even able to portion out the money to my campaign boosters,'' Soong said.
No sooner had Soong finished, though, than the KMT mainstream opened fire on him again.
"If Soong really didn't give out money to campaign boosters, how come Taichung County council speaker Yen Ching-piao (
"I am not questioning whether Soong had spent the money on public affairs, but rather how he spent it,'' Ting added.
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
MATAIAN RIVER: Rescue operations were ongoing, with officials urging residents to move to higher floors where possible as teams focus first on those at ground level Floodwaters from the overflowing Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) barrier lake swept into Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復) yesterday afternoon, leaving hundreds of people trapped and three missing as of press time last night, the Hualien County Fire Bureau said. The waters surged into downtown Guangfu after the riverbank burst at about 2:50pm, carrying mud and debris and submerging streets to rooftop level in some areas. Residents were seen climbing onto vehicles and rooftops to await rescue as thick, silt-laden water inundated the town. The surge destroyed the Mataian Bridge (馬太鞍溪橋) and flooded the Guangfu Railway Station. Rescue operations were launched with support from fire departments
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,