The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday announced that it has decided to delay its 19th party congress, which was to begin on Sunday, due to civic groups’ plans to hold a rally against President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on the same day outside the congress’ venue.
In an impromptu press conference, KMT Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) said that the venue for the meeting, the National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, is a popular tourist destination, so the event had been canceled to avoid any possible confrontations involving demonstrators that could hurt passersby.
“The KMT is the ruling party, and as such has a responsibility to protect the public and defend people’s rights, which is why we decided to delay the congress,” Tseng said at the KMT headquarters.
Photo: CNA
The KMT had said last week that it would not change the date of the congress because of the anti-Ma demonstrations.
The party had been set to approve Ma’s re-election as KMT chairman at the congress, which was meant to serve as an occasion to strengthen party unity ahead of the seven-in-one local elections next year.
Tseng said that after discussing the various rallies and protests planned for Sunday with the party, the Taipei City Police Department had suggested that the congress be held at another location since it would be a challenge to maintain security at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.
Several civil groups joined forces with the National Alliance for Workers of Closed Factories to plan a demonstration outside the memorial on Sunday against the Ma administration.
Another anti-Ma protest planned for the same day and also organized by civil groups is to see demonstrators march from the intersection of Renai and Anhe roads, before converging at a rally on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building.
“The KMT absolutely respects all legal rallies, but we are also worried about possible accidents… The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is open to the public on Sunday and the safety of nearby businesses and residents is our main concern,” Tseng said.
The party is considering holding the congress at Chungshan Hall on Yangmingshan on Oct. 26, since the venue is far from downtown Taipei, which should make it easier to keep protesters at a distance.
However, the new date has yet to be confirmed as many KMT officials are scheduled to fly to China to attend a forum between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party.
The party’s annual summit has been the subject of increased public focus amid the ongoing political battle between Ma and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), whose invitation to the congress was rescinded after the KMT revoked his party membership over alleged improper lobbying.
Responding to the cancelation, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said that avoiding the protests by rescheduling would not solve any problems.
“The congress is supposed to be the KMT’s business. However, protests were organized for people to voice their opinions on Ma’s poor governance. As the ruling party, the KMT should respond to the public’s complaints,” Su said.
Su also endorsed the DPP’s boycott of a report that was to be delivered by Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) to the Legislative Yuan and said that the DPP’s act would not suspend the legislature’s operation.
“However, Jiang should adhere to the constitutional principle of separation of powers,” he added.
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,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
‘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
RSS