While the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) appears to be trying to downplay the political squabble between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) over the past month, members of the party’s Central Standing Committee refuse to let the issue go and are demanding explanations.
The Ma-Wang showdown began on Aug. 31, when Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) briefed the president on information gathered via a wiretap allegedly showing improper lobbying by Wang on behalf of Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘).
Observers say that Ma, who doubles as KMT chairman, then tried to remove Wang from his post as legislative speaker, by suspending his party membership saying Wang had brought “shame on Taiwan’s judiciary and democratic history.”
Wang took the KMT court and the Taipei District Court granted him an injunction that let the speaker provisionally retain his party membership. The Taiwan High Court upheld the ruling after the KMT appealed it.
Ahead of its 19th party congress, which is to take place on Nov. 10 in Greater Taichung, the KMT is working overtime to print invitations to the summit. However, sources say the party has not addressed Wang’s invitation to: “Chairman Wang, of the party of chairmen” as it has in the past — a detail that symbolized Wang’s high stature within the KMT — but has instead addressed the invitation as: “To Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng.”
Meanwhile, the KMT Central Evaluation and Disciplinary Committee has also quietly removed the notice informing member of Wang’s membership revocation from the headquarters doors, in stark contrast to the very public methods party officials used to announce the suspension last month.
According to sources, no matter which side KMT members took in the Ma-Wang saga, many feel they cannot simply accept that the past month’s events be breezily pushed aside by the party leadership, adding that some KMT representatives may ask for explanations at the congress.
The source said that some KMT members were extremely critical of the party headquarters’ actions, saying that by taking a stance in what it had deemed “an issue with no middle ground,” the headquarters had put the party in a catch-22 situation.
KMT Central Standing Committee member Lee Te-wei (李德維) said that while it was good that party headquarters is toning down its stance on the squabble, the issue of justice must be dealt with.
“It must provide an answer, an explanation, or the members of the party are all fools,” Lee said.
Ma supporters who criticized Wang now find themselves in an awkward situation, while others like the son of former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), Sean Lien (連勝文), who backed Wang were heavily criticized by overseas party members.
“The party headquarters should give us justice,” Lee said.
“Wang’s stance on the revocation of his party membership has never changed. He considers himself ‘a member of the KMT forever,’ it was the party central leadership that has continually shifted its position,” Lee added.
“It started the issue and said Wang shamed Taiwan’s democracy, but now is softening its tone,” Lee said, but added: “The wound has been made and someone needs to step down to show they are willing to take responsibility.”
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique