Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday advised party Chairman Lien Chan (
"The merger is one direction, but there are conditions attached to it ... the point here is that we need to know whether the merger would help us increase our votes, especially from supporters from the Minnan ethnic group," said KMT Legislator James Chen (
Chen was among the group of KMT legislators who Lien met in batches yesterday to exchange views on the party's plan to merge with the PFP, a splinter group of the KMT.
The party's highest decision-making body, the Central Standing Committee, on Wednesday approved Lien's proposal to push for a merger with the PFP.
Chen yesterday said that the party needs to reconsider the purpose and meaning of merging with the PFP, if doing so won't help the party garner more than 50 percent of support from the Minnan ethnic group.
"It is an issue of political reality," he added.
While he reiterated his opposition to the merger plan, KMT Legislator Chen Hung-chang (
"Only if PFP Chairman James Soong (
KMT Legislators Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and Justine Huang (黃健庭) were among the legislators who met Lien yesterday.
Saying that even though a majority of legislators are in favor of the merger, Wu yesterday said that he would prefer it take place after the year-end legislative elections.
Wu's view ran counter to that of Lien, who said on Wednesday "the sooner the better" when asked about the merger's timetable.
KMT Secretary-General Lin Feng-cheng (
James Chen, who singled out Lin to step down to take responsibility for the party's election failure, yesterday again directed criticism at Lin when speaking about the merger's timetable.
"If Lin, via the excuse of pushing the merger, continues to stay on in his post, that would mean that the party's campaign work for the year-end legislative elections would again fall into the hands of the same group of people [who failed already]," said James Chen. "Should that be the case, then the number of pan-blue legislative seats might possibly be reduced to 90."
Combining the number of KMT and PFP legislators, the pan-blue alliance currently holds a total of 112 seats in the 223-seat legislature.
James Chen, a former speaker for the Taipei City Council, denied he had played any role in the recent calls from a group of Taipei City pan-blue councilors who said they are planning to hold a signature drive petitioning Taipei Mayor and KMT Vice Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Also See Story:
Dump Lien and get started on reform: KMT city councilors
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
URBAN COMBAT: FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles from the US made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills simulating an invasion of the Taipei MRT The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei. At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel. First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems. Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
RSS