Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday apologized to supporters for the “disturbance” that the KMT’s Central Standing Committee meeting last week has caused over a change made to the party’s chairperson election date.
In yesterday’s committee meeting, which was open to the media, there were no angry exchanges among party heavyweights and committee members as there had been in the past week, with many accusing the chairwoman of violating party regulations for her own ends.
On Wednesday last week, Hung reportedly railroaded a motion to move forward next year’s chairperson election by two months by arbitrarily interpreting the definition of a meeting quorum, when more than 20 committee members allegedly boycotted the meeting.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The move has since sparked harsh criticism within the party, with committee member Yao Chiang-lin (姚江臨) filing a civil suit and KMT caucus convener Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) urging Hung to step down.
Hung yesterday said that as the party is facing multiple challenges, “there is no tomorrow if new breakthroughs cannot be made.”
“Solidarity and reform” is not paying lip service and only sincere communication to reach a consensus would be good for the party,” Hung said.
“There can be different views,” she said, calling on the committee members to attend the meeting to avoid misunderstandings.
A reconsideration was proposed in yesterday’s committee meeting for the motion passed on Wednesday last week, and while those who were against the motion, including Sufin and Yao, did not comment, they kept their hands down when others clapped their hands to celebrate the passage of the reconsideration.
Yao had said that he would withdraw the lawsuit if a consensus was reached yesterday, while Sufin denied that there was antagonism between he and Hung.
It was also announced in the meeting that the date for the party’s election of representatives and chairperson would remain unchanged — May 20 — but the planned merger of the party’s deep-blue Huang Fu-hsing (黃復興) military veterans’ branch with the party representative election of general local party chapters was postponed until 2021.
The total number of representatives for next year’s elections will be recalculated with more seats expected to be granted to the Huang Fu-hsing branch, KMT Secretary-General Mo Tien-hu (莫天虎) said.
Before yesterday’s meeting, there had been no dispute over the election date, sources said, adding that the debate was over merging the Huang Fu-hsing branch elections with that of general local branches, which would mean that about 90,000 members of the Huang Fu-hsing branch would no longer voting in a separate election.
The military branch has long been seen as a stronghold for “deep-blue” and “pro-China” factions, and the merger would mean a “dilution” of the votes for the party’s pro-localization faction.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in