The controversy over former president Lee Teng-hui's (
Lien, along with Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Facing recent controversy over the so-called "localization" path aggressively promoted by Lee and Huang, Lien yesterday strongly criticized Huang, saying that certain politicians are trying to arouse "ethnic sentiments" (
"As the old Chinese saying goes, what General Sima Zhao (司馬昭) is up to is too evident," Lien told the KMT's Taipei Committee members at the convention.
Lien also said that Taiwan can only be "reborn" if the KMT regains power. He told party members and the party's eight Taipei City candidates for the year-end legislative elections that the KMT must change what it did wrong in the past and retain its legislative majority by winning the elections.
Lien said that the nation has "changed beyond recognition" over the past year and that major foreign academic groups and their media organizations have been asking, "What's happened in Taiwan?" "Is Taiwan sick?" and "Where is Taiwan headed?"
Lien criticized the DPP for blaming its difficulties in policy promotion on the three major opposition parties. He claimed that the KMT has in fact been "cooperative and supportive" in helping to pass bills in the Legislative Yuan, even when an extra session had to be convened to approve major financial reform bills.
In contrast, he alleged, the DPP used to "oppose for the sake of opposition" in the legislature before it came into power.
He also criticized the DPP for blaming the current political and economic quagmire on the legislature, the opposition parties and the media.
Meanwhile, Ma, who is a KMT Central Standing Committee member, yesterday praised that Lien's idea of establishing a "confederation" system (
In response to Lien's criticism, Huang immediately fired back yesterday, saying that democratic politics is party politics, and that "it is normal to form political groups or political parties."
"And he calls himself a PhD in Political Science?" Huang mocked.
Lien received his doctorate in Political Science from the University of Chicago in 1965.
"The KMT is just like a rich family which does not know about the welfare and woes of the people," Huang said.
Huang also revealed yesterday that Lee's future political group will soon put forth nominations for the legislative elections but will not nominate candidates for local government leadership.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique