Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Deputy Secretary-General Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) has cleared out his office at party headquarters, in a sign that infighting may have escalated over the party’s nomination for the year-end Tainan County commissioner election.
Asked for comment, Chen Chi-mai said he was no longer the party’s deputy secretary-general.
DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) yesterday confirmed that Chen had cleared out his office.
Chen had been exhausted and taken leave for health reasons over the past three or four weeks, Cheng said.
Asked whether Chen had turned in his resignation, Cheng said: “I would have to confirm with Chairperson Tsai [Ing-wen (蔡英文)] whether Chen’s resignation has been approved.”
Upon hearing the news, Huang Chin-lin (黃慶林), director of the DPP’s Taipei branch, said: “The party headquarters can just go ahead and fill up with New Tide faction [members] and everyone else can just leave.”
Chen Chi-mai is highly capable and it would be a shame to see him leave, Huang said.
“But he cannot bring his skills into full play because the chairperson doesn’t listen to him,” he said.
Huang said Chen Chi-mai had told him in a phone call last Wednesday that he felt powerless and would soon leave party headquarters.
DPP Legislator Kao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) said yesterday that Chen Chi-mai had wanted to leave for a long time.
“It may be good for him to go ... It’s also a good thing to let the New Tide faction completely run the party and shoulder all the responsibility — just like the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT),” he said.
Factions have long played a role within the DPP, particularly in the distribution of party resources and positions, including the heads of party departments and membership in the Central Standing Committee and other bodies.
The New Tide faction was seen as the DPP’s most organized faction, but in July 2006 the party passed a resolution dissolving all factions as part of reform efforts.
Nevertheless, the previous factional affiliations of party members are thought to have a lingering role in the party’s internal politics.
The DPP last Wednesday chose DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊毅) to run for Tainan County commissioner.
One of Lee’s rivals for the nomination, former Presidential Office secretary-general Mark Chen (陳唐山), said he had been left out because of party infighting. He announced he would run in the election in defiance of factional forces.
Some party members have speculated that Mark Chen’s bid for the nomination was blocked by former members of the New Tide faction in favor of Lee.
The DPP headquarters yesterday stood by its nomination of Lee. Lee may have a lower support rate than Mark Chen in some opinion polls, but the party only uses such polls as a reference, it said.
According to a poll conducted by the Chinese-language China Times, Lee and Mark Chen’s approval ratings are 15 percent and 25 percent respectively.
“From the past few elections we know that opinion polls can only be used as a reference. The results of the polls can differ among media with different political affiliations, so we do not view a single poll as the standard,” Cheng said yesterday.
Lee said yesterday he had visited Tsai to discuss the situation in Tainan.
“Tainan supporters respect the party’s [nomination], but some have worries about Mark Chen’s [decision to run],” Lee said.
Tsai was quoted by Lee as saying that she would shoulder the responsibility for any difficulties that arise over the nomination, but he added, "I don't know in what form."
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
RSS