Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday offered his resignation to the KMT Central Standing Committee, while the party listed in a report seven major reasons for its defeat in Saturday’s elections.
After Wu’s resignation, the committee appointed KMT Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗) as acting secretary-general to oversee the party’s operations.
In the report, the KMT said the major factors in its defeat were that the “sense of the nation’s impending doom” (亡國感) was greater than “hatred toward the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP]”; the KMT could not control the discussion on cross-strait relations and respond to changes; “Internet armies” swayed public opinion, challenging candidates’ images and making it difficult for them to win over independent voters; the victory in Kaohsiung’s mayoral election could not be replicated and a mistake was made regarding the choice of campaign strategy; internal conflicts within the party, lack of unity and campaigning that could have been improved; the party’s list of legislator-at-large nominees did not meet public expectations; and the party was unable to win the favor of young people, who are highly engaged in politics.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The report said that because Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the party’s presidential candidate, announced his candidacy less than six months after becoming mayor, his trustworthiness was questioned.
Han’s “repetitive” responses at the Kaohsiung City Council and failure to follow through on policy proposals, such as bringing Disneyland to the city, also raised questions about his capabilities, the report said.
His private life was put to the test, the report said, listing his verbal gaffes, “discriminatory” comments, illegal farmhouse and real-estate investments, as well as a photograph of him playing mahjong and his relationship with a woman surnamed Wang (王).
His “everyman” image was hurt, it added.
While Han’s every word and action was scrutinized, his campaign team was unable to respond with strong evidence in a timely fashion, it said.
The imprecision of the responses made his campaign vulnerable to his opponents’ attacks, it said.
His campaign “avoided” scrutiny by broadly saying that he was being smeared or “painted red” or “painted yellow,” the report said.
The DPP, along with media outlets and “Internet armies,” ran a smear campaign and created an image of Han as a caobao (草包, “country bumpkin”), it said.
This damaged Han’s efforts to win over young and independent voters, it added.
Young people care about various social issues, but the KMT’s stance on many of those issues is either at odds with young people’s views or is seen as conservative, the report said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) proposal to impose a “one country, two systems” formula for Taiwan at the beginning of last year, as well as protests in Hong Kong, resulted in the success of the DPP’s strategic use of a “sense of the nation’s impending doom,” it said.
A case involving self-confessed Chinese spy William Wang Liqiang (王立強) further increased concerns about Chinese interference in domestic affairs, it said.
Although the KMT has a clear cross-strait policy, it has been unable to “adjust its pace” to changing situations, the report said.
Revisions to the party’s nomination process meant candidates with political influence were unwilling to participate, the report said, adding that after the party’s primary ended not all candidates supported Han, despite promises to do so.
The process of nominating at-large legislative candidates also hurt the KMT’s image, the report said.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
RSS