As the KMT set ups a special reform committee after its unprecedented loss in the presidential elections, voices inside and outside the party appear anything but unified on how such reforms should proceed.
KMT provincial party chairman Chen Keng-chin (
With the downsizing of the provincial government, there is no need for the KMT's provincial-level organization, said Chen.
Instead, he said, the KMT should strengthen party organizations at the county and township level and bolster grassroots support for the party.
There have been a number of calls for reduction in the KMT's organizational structure, but they have gone unheeded, said Chen. If the elections for National Assembly delegates are cancelled, the KMT should be able to abolish the provincial party headquarters within months, he said.
If the assembly elections -- scheduled for May 20 -- are not cancelled, then the KMT will be hard pressed to liquidate the provincial party machinery in the face of pressures to field candidates for the elections, said Chen.
Speaking on a TV talk show yesterday, National Taiwan University political scientist Pao Tsung-ho (
Meaningful party reform must include democratic processes within the party and greater attention towards public opinion, said Pao.
The KMT should first take stock of its members, set a timetable for adopting democratic internal methods, and then hold elections for the party chairman and other party posts, stressed Pao.
Not so, countered KMT legislator Chen Shei-saint (
The KMT should first place its assets in a trust and then institute democratic methods within the party, said Chen.
But the KMT should stop short of a party purge.
"Those who should have left have already done so," said Chen.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
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‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
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