Political storm clouds gathered in Taipei yesterday as former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) last night celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary with his wife, Lien Fan Yu (連方瑀).
The celebration came a day after Lien Chan returned from China, where his attendance at a military parade in Beijing commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II has been labeled by some as “traitorous,” and prompted some of his KMT comrades to call for disciplinary action to be taken against him.
None of the KMT heavyweights — President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) or KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) — were at the wedding anniversary celebration.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Earlier yesterday, Chu said he was not able to attend the celebration due to a schedule conflict, denying that the party had advised party members against going.
When asked about a rumored injunction issued by KMT headquarters that party members may not attend the dinner, Chu laughed and said it was “not possible [for the KMT to do so].”
Wang said he needed to travel to southern Taiwan so he would not be at the dinner, adding that he had called to Lien Chan to congratulate the couple.
Photo: Huang Wen-huang, Taipei Times
New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明), who went with Lien Chan to the parade in Beijing, did attend the party.
At least a dozen protesters gathered outside the hotel where the party was held, holding up banners and shouting slogans denouncing Lien Chan for being “a traitor” and “shameless.”
Separately, a statue of Lien Chan’s grandfather in a park in Tainan was defaced. The face of the statue was painted red.
Lien Chan’s grandfather, Lien Ya-tang (連雅堂), was the author of The Comprehensive History of Taiwan (台灣通史), published in 1920, and has in recent years become a controversial figure after it was revealed that he wrote an article promoting the benefits of smoking opium, endorsing the colonial Japanese government’s policy of issuing conditional permits for opium smokers.
Lien Ya-tang’s statue was also vandalized earlier this year, a week before 228 Memorial Day, along with statues of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正).
“The predecessor fawned over the Japanese and ... the Communists” and “First-rate drug dealer, third-rate historian” were some of the slogans painted on the pedestal of the statue in February.
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