The KMT held a 106th anniversary celebration yesterday, but the party's first major reunion after the presidential defeat in March was a low-key affair.
Chairman Lien Chan (
"Up until now, 540,000 people have re-registered as KMT members and 40,000 of them are young members who have identified themselves with the party's future and hope," Lien said, adding that political reform and internal structural transformation were the party's mission for the century.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
In order to clarify the full extent of its membership, the KMT has asked all its claimed 2,500,000 members to re-register as party faithful between September and January. With less than two months left, however, recruitment seems to be going slowly.
"To be realistic, our goal is within one million. However, we will be honest with the figure, without empty boasting about membership this time," Director-general of the party's organizational development committee (組織發展委員會) Chao Shou-po (趙守博) told the Taipei Times yesterday, adding that the party would reserve the membership of some government officials who now work for the DPP government and, therefore, are hesitating to re-register.
Still, former Premier Tang Fei (
Chao, nevertheless, added that the party has developed several incentives for membership recruitment, which include lowering the age limit for membership from 20 to 15 to allow more youngsters into the party. Members aged below 20 are not allowed to run for public office, but they can participate in the party affairs, including running for the party chairmanship.
The KMT would also compensate its members with health and accident insurance coverage using half of their annual fee, demonstrating the party's ability to benefit members in return for their support and to care for members and their health, Chao said.
At yesterday's celebration, Lien said that the transfer of power to DPP President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had resulted in constitutional chaos, political turmoil and cross-strait deadlock.
"The new government cannot ignore, destroy or downplay the Constitution. Nor can it solve the cross-strait impasse with its new [consensus], since there has already been a [cross-strait] consensus," Lien added, urging the government to renounce its "political interference" with the economic market.
Lien, moreover, stressed "the importance of financial expertise instead of political ideology" when dealing with the workweek legislation in the legislature, asking "Chen to give up his thoughtless campaign promise -- 40 working hours per week starting from 2002."
Former KMT Chairman Lee Teng-hui did not attend yesterday's ceremony, citing health problems after his recent cardiac operation.
Lacking the political charisma of Lee, Lien -- unlike his predecessor -- has had to stand up after defeat in the presidential election and demonstrate his leadership qualities by regrouping the KMT with its former affiliates -- the New Party and the People First Party -- into an opposition alliance and, endorsed by the alliance, taking the initiative in pushing forward the recall vote against the president, thus ushering in the KMT's so-called "post-Lee Teng-hui era (
Founded in 1894 by Sun Yet-sen (孫中山), the KMT's central goal at its infancy was to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, which eventually collapsed in 1911. The Communist Party later defeated the KMT in a civil war which led to the party's ignominious flight to Taiwan in 1949.
During the KMT's five decades of government, Taiwan went through three major political phases -- the rule of Chiang Kai-shek (
Both Chiangs used martial law to limit political dissent, respectively running so-called "hard authoritarian" and "soft authoritarian" regimes.
Chiang Ching-kuo, however, gradually allowed democratic reforms in his later years. He carried out a policy known as "Chui Tai Ching (
Chiang lifted martial law in 1987 -- one year before his successor Lee took power.
The Taiwan-born Lee effectively terminated the so-called "foreign rule (
During his 12-year rule, Lee was more tolerant of the opposition movement, winning himself the soubriquet of "Mr. Democracy," competing with the major opposition party, the DPP, founded in 1986.
In order to counteract old-guard mainland-centric forces within the party, Lee secured power through years of political infighting mainly by allying with grassroots leaders.
While this helped the KMT's localization, it came at the price of turning a blind eye to local corruption and the "black gold" politics associated with local political machines.
Lee's attempts to cast the KMT as a Taiwanese party led in the 1990s to two schisms with dissident mainlander factions. The New Party was founded in 1993 by a group of the KMT's "young turks" or "anti-Lee faction (反李勢力)" including Wang Chien-shien (王建'火宣') and Jaw Shau-kong (趙少康), due to ideological differences.
After James Soong (
Despite political difficulties, the KMT still controls the legislature, with 115 seats, and is said to be one of the world's richest political parties, with admitted assets of US$3.7 billion but estimated unofficially to be in the tens of billions.
"For the sake of unity, the KMT will never go through any political infighting. I therefore urge our comrades to reunite and make a brave start, " Lien said at yesterday's anniversary.
"We will put all our efforts into becoming the biggest and most professional opposition party in Taiwan. The KMT is determined to oversee the new government's policies for the benefit of all Taiwan's people," KMT legislator Apollo Chen (
The KMT led by Lien has vowed to lead the country's development in economic and financial issues, cross-strait negotiations, foreign affairs and domestic reforms.
But the doubts currently facing the party are not new. Whether the party could eliminate corruption from its ranks and simplify its bureaucratic organization were issues even before the "good old days" of the party's 50 year rule.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS