The KMT will hold the first direct election for party chairman in its history today. The current chairman and sole candidate, Lien Chan (
To mobilize party members to vote, Lien sent every member a letter pledging to carry out party reform.
"The failure in the presidential election was the biggest frustration of both my career and the KMT's history," Lien said during a televised interview yesterday. "It also brought about a failure for the country [after the DPP government's first 10 months in office]."
Lien said that the nation was greatly disappointed in the DPP government, and that the DPP was governing "dogmatically" and risked "sinking all the passengers on the good ship `Taiwan.'"
"We cannot allow the DPP government, which has lost its direction, to `sink' in such a way that all the people perish together," Lien said.
He said that the KMT should reform itself as soon as possible in order to take on the responsibility of reversing Taiwan's decline.
"Now I will serve as a coordinator to unite the party which split during the presidential campaign, which was the key reason for the KMT's failure," Lien said. "I therefore appeal to all party members to take part in the party's democratic reform by voting in the election for chairman."
Lien pledged to lead the party in retaining its majority in the legislature after the year-end legislative election and to regain power by offering a new hope and vision to the nation.
He also refused to rule out the possibility of visiting China, noting that cross-strait relations had stalled and that dialogue between the two sides had been suspended for a year.
He said that he would like to visit China as long as the trip "lives up to the expectations and interests of the people of Taiwan."
Today's election for the party chairman is regarded as the first step in the KMT's reform process. But the new system has still been questioned as being democratic in name only.
"KMT headquarters' leaders designed the rules so that Lien would become the sole qualified candidate," said Tuan Hung-chun (
The rules stipulate that anyone who wants to run for the chairmanship must obtain the signatures of more than 3 percent of all party members in support of his or her bid. The party has about 950,000 members.
Lien succeeded former chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) last June and pledged to implement party reform under three principles -- downsizing the party bureaucracy, and making the party both democratic and transparent.
The KMT, which once boasted 2 million members, launched a membership re-registration drive last September in preparation for the direct election of the chairman, but less than 1 million people re-registered.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
‘BOOMING’: ’ The number of partners we have here is incredible. You can see from their stock prices. They’re doing so well, they’re so happy,’ Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp’s spending in Taiwan has ballooned to about US$150 billion a year, 10 times the US$10 billion to US$15 billion the company spent five years ago, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, suggesting Taiwan’s strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. “Taiwan is the epicenter of the AI revolution. This is where the chips come, packaging comes. This is where the systems are made. This is where AI supercomputers were created,” Huang said at a meeting for the company’s employees in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, the planned site of Nvidia’s Taipei headquarters. “Taiwan
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
RSS