With Lien Chan (
One of the most divisive elements of Lee's party management was his push toward localization -- the promotion of ethnic Taiwanese within the party hierarchy -- in an attempt to make the party more reflective of the makeup of the electorate.
But localization is also regarded by many in the party as discriminatory toward some party activists and a contributing factor to the KMT's crushing defeat in the March presidential election and Lee's subsequent resignation as chairman after days of protests outside the KMT's Taipei headquarters.
Many protesters suspected Lee, by initiating the localization drive, of intentionally setting the stage for the gradual crumbling of the party's power base and its eventual defeat.
"Those who strongly support localization have strong feelings about the crisis [the KMT faces]," said KMT lawmaker Chen Hung-chi (
One of the main goals Lee tried to achieve as chairman was to shift the party's focus more toward Taiwan and attracting more ethnic Taiwanese members. Previously the KMT had been largely composed of mainlanders.
After the March election and the subsequent riots outside party headquarters, the party tried to put on a united front and stand behind Lien as Lee's replacement.
But the protests which forced Lee to step down from the top party post left the KMT divided. Some still question Lien's commitment to follow "Lee's path" of localization.
The KMT has since split into two factions, one pro-Lee and the other pro-Lien.
With Lee's faction losing ground to the pro-Lien forces, many of his once loyal followers have switched their allegiance.
To retain the support of defectors from the Lee camp, Lien's supporters have been insisting that localization would remain a key KMT tenet, but would be different from Lee's concept of the word.
"Lee promoted localization to give priority to ethnic Taiwanese only, but Lien has revised the term to include all Taiwanese, irrespective of place of origin or when they came to Taiwan," said KMT lawmaker Chen Shei-saint
This is also one reason why the party's mainlander members support Lien and have urged him to exclude Lee in the wake of the party's election defeat.
Likewise, among KMT lawmakers, there are both pro-Lee and pro-Lien camps. Interestingly, both sides say there is no conflict between them.
"We support Lien and at same time we advocate Lee," said Chen Horng-chi (陳鴻基), who belongs to the pro-Lee E-Era faction.
That faction is a new group within the KMT established after the March election. It is made up of about 20 legislators, who hope to spearhead reform within the party.
Chen Shei-saint agreed with Chen Horng-chi, saying that his pro-Lien Reform Faction did not oppose Lee.
Chen admitted that Lee was still an influential figure and urged Lien not to alienate Lee and his supporters.
Lien won the party's presidential nomination contest by a landslide, with 97 percent of the vote.
However, in the light of his failure to win the presidential election, many doubt he can gain much support in his bid to become party chairman.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS