Former president Lee Teng-hui (
Lien, speaking to the New York Times, said yesterday he was surprised that the former president has decided to step back into politics.
"Someone may have taken advantage of Lee's [political resources] to form a new political group or party," Lien said in the interview, which is scheduled to be published on Sunday.
Though he didn't specifically name any politician yesterday, Lien's comments appear to refer to former minister of the interior Huang Chu-wen (
Lien also said that Huang's move was likely to polarize domestic politics. "Some politicians would manipulate ethnic and religious tensions and national identity in the pursuit of their own interests," Lien said.
The KMT chairman also said that he believed Lee's remarks that he had no plans to form a new political party, adding that such a move should be avoided to preserve the nation's past achievements under KMT rule.
Lien, in addition, gave high approval to Lee's past contributions to the nation, which he said no one could deny.
When asked to comment on the Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) administration, Lien said that "it seems that Chen and the ruling DPP were not ready to come to power."
With regard to cross-strait relations, Lien said that China has low confidence in Chen's administration, which in Beijing's eyes is pro-independence.
Lien said it was the opposition parties' obligation to demonstrate to China that the majority of people in Taiwan favor maintaining the status quo.
Meanwhile, DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (
Wu said that the crowd that had greeted Lee upon his return to Taiwan on Tuesday was mostly made up of DPP supporters and pro-independence advocates.
"Anyone who has experience with elections will probably reach the conclusion that the pro-Lee group is likely to steal votes from the [DPP] party," he said.
Wu said he hoped the pro-Lee group would make its stance and goals clear, so that the DPP could come up with an appropriate electoral strategy.
In response, Huang said that the new political party aimed to garner support from middle-of-the-road voters instead of the DPP's traditional supporters.
Former Taipei mayor Huang Ta-chou (
Huang Ta-chou made the remarks in response to Huang Chu-wen's comments that if the KMT failed to eliminate its "one great China" ideology, it would not be a truly localized party.
Huang Ta-chou added that in terms of economic development, Taiwan could not afford to close its doors to international markets, including China's.
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