President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has reportedly decided to resign as chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to take responsibility for the party’s crushing defeat in the nine-in-one elections on Saturday, but the news had not been confirmed by KMT spokesperson Charles Chen (陳以信) as of press time.
The news that Ma would make a “big announcement” at a meeting of the party’s Central Standing Committee on Wednesday to resign as chairman emerged on various media outlets almost simultaneously yesterday morning.
Chen said he was not able to confirm the reports, but added that Ma had explicitly told the party that he would never cling to the chairmanship and would take responsibility for the election results.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The KMT won in six of the nation’s 22 cities and counties, losing control of historical strongholds it held in Taipei, Greater Taichung and Taoyuan to the Democratic Progressive Party. It previously controlled 15 seats.
On Saturday, Ma approved the resignations of Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and KMT Secretary-General Tseng Tung-chuan (曾永權).
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday morning that he offered to resign as KMT vice chairman on Saturday night.
Hau said the election results are a warning from voters to the KMT, calling on the party to examine the message conveyed by the losses and strive to listen more attentively to what people have to say.
Hau said on Facebook that as an incumbent mayor who was responsible for campaigning for KMT Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文), he takes responsibility for the loss in the capital.
If Ma resigns, Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), one of the KMT’s eight vice chairs, reportedly would take up the position temporarily until an election is held in three months to select a new chairperson.
Wu said he believes Ma has been deliberating whether he should step down as chairman, adding that to remain in the role would be more difficult than to resign because it was like “burning the candle at both ends.”
Defeated Greater Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) said he would continue to serve the party as a vice chairman, although he had considered resigning when he learned of Hau’s decision.
In an interview with China Television, Hu said he would rather work with the party in this time of difficulty than resign.
The reason the KMT lost the election is because it did not understand the younger generation, Hu said.
“Young people take for granted what they are given and they think they are owed what they long for. If you give them an iPhone 5, they are still mad at you because you did not give them an iPhone 6,” he said.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
‘TROUBLEMAKER’: Most countries believe that it is China — rather than Taiwan — that is undermining regional peace and stability with its coercive tactics, the president said China should restrain itself and refrain from being a troublemaker that sabotages peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks after China Coast Guard vessels sailed into disputed waters off the Senkaku Islands — known as the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) in Taiwan — following a remark Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made regarding Taiwan. Takaichi during a parliamentary session on Nov. 7 said that a “Taiwan contingency” involving a Chinese naval blockade could qualify as a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, and trigger Tokyo’s deployment of its military for defense. Asked about the escalating tensions
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said it plans to revise the export control list for strategic high-tech products by adding 18 items under three categories — advanced 3D printing equipment, advanced semiconductor equipment and quantum computers — which would require local manufacturers to obtain licenses for their export. The ministry’s announcement yesterday came as the International Trade Administration issued a 60-day preview period for planned revisions to the Export Control List for Dual Use Items and Technology (軍商兩用貨品及技術出口管制清單) and the Common Military List (一般軍用貨品清單), which fall under regulations governing export destinations for strategic high-tech commodities and specific strategic high-tech commodities. The
RSS