Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) was on Wednesday night nominated as a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central Committee, despite the recent public outcry over the forced demolition of four houses in Miaoli County’s Dapu Borough (大埔).
On President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) nomination list, Liu was ranked 32th out of 210 nominees.
Keelung Mayor Chang Tung-rong (張通榮), who has low approval ratings, ranked 34th.
Photo: CNA
Liu ranked 77th in the previous nomination list presented by former KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄).
The top five nominees included KMT legislators Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順) and Yuang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), and KMT Central Standing Committee members Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教), Hung Yu-chin (洪玉欽) and Hsu Hsian-rong (許顯榮).
The nomination list sparked criticism from the opposition camp, with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) saying that Ma’s list will generate public dissent against the KMT, and his nomination of Liu as a Central Committee member reflected his ignorance of public opinion.
The KMT yesterday declined to comment on Ma’s nomination of Liu as a Central Committee member amid continuous protests against Liu and the county government.
A KMT official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, rebutted Ker’s criticism by insisting that the party’s nomination list did not guarantee that all nominees will be elected, as party delegates also have the right to nominate Central Committee members via petitions.
The official acknowledged that Ma’s nomination should guarantee election, but added that party members aiming for the Central Committee can still qualify to enter the race by obtaining signatures from at least six party delegates.
Former Taipei EasyCard Corp chairman Sean Lien (連勝文), son of former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰), and KMT Central Standing Committee member Hsieh Kung-hung (謝坤宏), who failed in his attempt to compete with Ma in the KMT chairmanship election earlier this month, are also on the nomination list.
The KMT will elect 210 Central Committee members on Aug. 17, while party delegates will elect 32 Central Standing Committee members from those Central Committee members on Sept. 7.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying