Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
The claim came as direct rebut to another book -- The President in the Tiger's Mouth (
The new book, however, says that Lien never demanded that Lee hand over the party leadership.
According to the book -- Re-emergence of the Blue Sky (藍天再現), written by Lien's former long-term assistant Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) -- a couple of days after the presidential election Lee Teng-hui told Lien that other KMT supporters were coming from southern Taiwan to counter the angry protesters who were at the time camped outside KMT headquarters.
Lee then asked Lien what he thought about the situation, and Lien told Lee that such a public conflict had to be resolved as soon as possible, without meaning that Lee should resign, the book said.
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislative whip Cheng Cheng-lung (
Lee Teng-hui is considered the spiritual leader of the TSU, which advocates an independent Taiwan.
Lee Chien-jung's book also details the KMT's transformation during the past three years.
The six-chapter book begins with the deterioration in relations between Lien and Lee Teng-hui and moves on to the KMT's reform under Lien's chairmanship. It discusses the formation of the alliance with the James Soong (
"Having been a long-term assistant of Lien's, I had first-hand experience observing Lien and the KMT," said Lee Chien-jung, who is now deputy manager of the KMT-owned Broadcasting Corporation of China.
Although Lee Chien-jung stressed that the main figure of the book is the KMT and not Lien, the book appears largely to promote Lien's candidacy ahead of March's presidential election.
Before the 2000 presidential election, in which Lien ran as the KMT's candidate, Lee Chien-jung authored another book about Lien detailing his governing record during his four years as premier.
In the process of writing the book, Lee Chien-jung said he had double checked all the facts with Lien.
Lien, originally slated to attend yesterday's launch of the book, did not show up because he had another event to attend.
KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (
In his speech, Lin said that the rift between Lee Teng-hui and Lien actually started in January 2001, when the KMT decided to drop the claim over the Chung Hsing Bills Finance case, "a decision which Lee was apparently unhappy about."
The case, uncovered in 1999 in the run-up to the 2000 presidential election, involves allegations that Soong embezzled funds from the KMT.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)