The legal case concerning Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng’s (王金平) party membership, which some expected to top the agenda at the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central Standing Committee (CSC) meeting yesterday, was not dealt with, although Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), who is acting KMT chairman, did say dropping the lawsuit might discredit the party’s Central Evaluation and Discipline Committee.
Wang took the KMT to court in September last year after the committee revoked his membership amid allegations Wang tried to influence justice officials to help an opposition legislator in a legal case.
The Taiwan High Court in September ruled in Wang’s favor, upholding a district court decision in May ruling that Wang still holds his KMT membership. The party filed an appeal.
Photo: Chen I-chuan, Taipei Times
The meeting yesterday was the first after the party’s defeat in the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 29. Many party members, KMT legislators included, had expected Wu, as the acting chairperson, to announce a retraction of the lawsuit against Wang to demonstrate party solidarity.
More than 20 CSC members said at the meeting that the party should drop the case, but Wu decided to hold off on reviewing the proposal.
Earlier yesterday, Wu said he had told Wang that his case would not be discussed at the meeting since “a lot has to be taken into account.”
“The High Court’s ruling has cast doubt on the established authority of the discipline committee, so dropping the lawsuit would be tantamount to endorsing the doubt,” Wu said. “If it did drop the case, how is the KMT to handle violations of party disciplines in the future?”
“We have asked divisions to review the matter, evaluating the effect of a possible retraction and whether it would affect the credibility of the discipline committee,” he added. “The opinions offered by the experts are to be collected for the new party chairperson’s consideration.”
“It would not be appropriate for an acting chairperson to make such a big decision,” Wu said.
Wu said that during his term as acting chairman, which is to last about a month, three major issues need to be settled: a review of the party’s performance in the elections; a public and fair party chairperson by-election; and a discussion about and nominations for council speaker and legislators.
Separately, Wu reiterated that he would not run for the chairmanship and, when asked about the rumor that he would run for president in 2016 with Wang being party chairman, Wu said he had “never heard such reports,” a response echoed by Wang.
Wang also denied that he would join the race for the chairperson role, saying that he had not thought about it.
Wu and Wang said they were open to any candidate for party chairperson after reporters said many have been urging New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) to stand.
The KMT set Jan. 17 as the date for the chairperson election.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS