Two days before the KMT closes its five-month-long membership re-registration, the party said it was satisfied to have had more than 910,000 party faithful re-register as KMT members.
"We are happy to see that there are over 100,000 new members. But for those who are not identified with the party, we do not intend to seek them out [to re-register]," said the director of the KMT's department of organizational management, Chen Tai-i (
Compared to its previous claim to have 2.5 million members, the new figure seems to be a sign of the party's difficulty in transforming itself into a genuine democratic political party. But some top leaders disagreed.
"In a democratic society, there won't be too many people who bear strong partisan identities. However, this will be a milestone of whether the KMT will accomplish its democratization [within the party]," associate professor of politics at the Soochow University, Hsieh Chen-yu (
Another associate professor at the same university, Emile Sheng (
"I would say that if half of its members joined the party just for the sake of the party's reinforcement instead of taking advantage of some insurance coverage or other promotional benefit, the party's morale will be boosted," Sheng added.
Sheng also said he has doubts about party Chairman Lien Chan's (
"Unlike former Chairman Lee who was seen as a political strongman, Lien's political charisma does not stand out. Therefore, at a time when [the KMT] needs a great deal of dash, his role as a party leader becomes less competitive [than People First Party Chairman James Soong (
As far as political reorganization is concerned, senior member of the PFP Liu Sung-pan (
Sheng disagreed, saying that both parties were unlikely to cooperate with each other since they would be competitors in the elections. Hsieh said the KMT would develop different cooperation models with various political parties depending on the political issue concerned.
The KMT will hold its first direct election for party chairmanship on March 24.
This year all 910,000 party members will be entitled to cast their vote for the new chairman whereas, in the past, only some 2,000 party representatives had the right to vote for the chairmanship.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from