After a series of "bottom up" consultation meetings around the country the KMT's Reform Committee (
At the same time, the Reform Committee devised a restriction against party office nominations as well as public service nominations by those who have violated criminal laws, in an effort to eliminate the party's "black gold (黑金)" image.
After a humbling defeat in the March 18 presidential election that ended 54 years of party rule over Taiwan, the KMT is now trying to force itself to undergo a top-to-bottom image change.
Despite the establishment of a new reform committee, however, pushing the KMT toward transformation has proven a slow task.
"I have heard from many grassroots groups and individuals who mistrust the KMT's sincerity to carry out reform. I hereby urge the party to act on reform as soon as possible," said Wang Yu-ting (王昱婷), a legislator and KMT reform committee member, at yesterday's meeting to discuss how to institute democratic practices within the party.
According to a proposal drawn up by Huang Te-fu (黃德福), many top-level positions in the KMT are to be directly elected by the membership, including the party chairman, Central Standing Committee (中常委) and the Central Advisory Committee (中評委).
Deputy head of the KMT's Department of Organizational Affairs, Lee Po-yuan (李伯元), indicated that the reform plans will be completed by the end of this year so that the party chairman will be directly elected by the full membership.
Deputy convener of the committee Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said that decisions related to party reform will be left to the Central Standing Committee and will then serve as reform guidelines once they are approved at the party's provisional National Congress (臨時全代會), which is set to take place in mid-June.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
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