Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) yesterday became the fourth entry to the party’s chairperson by-election.
The KMT had made a bad decision and wasted the public’s trust, which led the party from victory to defeat in the space of just a year, Chiang told a Lunar New Year tea party at his Taichung office.
If the KMT again allows calls for reforms to be just slogans, it could suffer more defeat and become history, he said.
Photo: Su Chin-feng, Taipei Times
He and the KMT have a responsibility to the nation, Chiang said, adding that the party must work fast to regain the public’s trust and continue to supervise the government, thereby bringing about a better Republic of China (ROC).
If elected, he would push reforms based on the KMT’s core values: democracy, justice and innovation, the lawmaker said.
He would ensure that older KMT members pass the torch, and he would include the planned KMT reform committee — which is to be made up of the party’s 15 mayors and county commissioners — as well as members of the KMT caucus to the party’s management, which should be a coordinator and a guide for the caucus as well as the local governments run by the KMT, not just be a commander, he said.
Chiang promised to focus on consolidating the party’s support in the central and southern parts of the nation, where campaigning has been the most difficult, adding that it would demonstrate the party’s sincerity and resolve to voters.
He would take the KMT to the streets to meet grassroot members to learn about the issues they care about, Chiang said, adding that only through this can the party forge a bond with the masses.
Asked whether the KMT’s cross-strait stance had been factor in its election defeat, Chiang said it had been one of the causes and the party needs to be open to all kinds of opinions on the issue.
“To the KMT, any discussion on its cross-strait stance must be based on acknowledgement of the fact that the ROC exists. No matter what stance the other side of the Strait takes, it must direct its attention back to the fact that the ROC exists,” he said.
KMT Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲), KMT Central Committee member Sean Lien (連勝文) and former Taichung mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) attended the party.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
A bipartisan group of US representatives have introduced a draft US-Taiwan Defense Innovation Partnership bill, aimed at accelerating defense technology collaboration between Taiwan and the US in response to ongoing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The bill was introduced by US representatives Zach Nunn and Jill Tokuda, with US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar and US Representative Ashley Hinson joining as original cosponsors, a news release issued by Tokuda’s office on Thursday said. The draft bill “directs the US Department of Defense to work directly with Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense through their respective
Tsunami waves were possible in three areas of Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Services said yesterday after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the nearby Kuril Islands. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, after the latest seismic activity in the area. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in Hawaii said there was no tsunami warning after the quake. The Russian tsunami alert was later canceled. Overnight, the Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia’s RIA
RSS