Though former president Lee Teng-hui (
KMT heavyweight Liang Su-jung (
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
Liang said that Lee's support for the DPP's Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and other pro-Taiwan politicians was evidence that he is a member of their group.
Lee said in Los Angeles yesterday that he would continue to fight for Taiwan's democratic and economic reforms.
"In my 80s, I am still as strong [as I was] to fight against political chaos," Lee told some 1,600 followers at an evangelical gathering, recalling Joshua's words from the Old Testament.
Lee then went on to criticize politicians who he said are responsible for Taiwan's political turmoil, though he didn't provide any names.
"Mainstream public opinion hasn't been taken into consideration for the past year and has only further crippled the DPP government.
"Also, someone has severely deviated from the goal I've achieved in past years," Lee said.
The former chairman of the KMT has been upset that Lien Chan (連戰), the party's current chairman, has abandoned Lee's "Taiwan first" and localization policies in favor of a pro-China stance.
Liang yesterday presented Chen Ken-ching (陳庚金), head of the disciplinary committee, with his petition and endorsement by 16 other members of the party's central review committee asking that Lee's membership in the party be revoked.
"Lee wants to take the KMT's money to help the DPP. Such a traitor should be ousted," Liang said.
In response, Chen Ken-ching said that he would make a report to the party's headquarters, while the party's secretary-general Lin Fong-cheng (
Lee is expected to return to Taiwan tonight. Some high-ranking KMT officials are still undecided as to whether they should go to the airport to greet Lee.
Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
A close aide to Lee, Huang Chu-wen (
"Only those who try to bluff need to mobilize people to greet him at the airport," Huang said.
Members of several pro-DPP groups including the Northern Taiwan Society (
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2