A senior KMT official has threatened to file libel suits against five pro-independence groups for published newspaper advertisements accusing him of "allying with the Chinese communists against Taiwan."
Chen Kang-chin (陳庚金), head of the KMT's Evaluation and Discipline Committee, said he was considering taking legal action over what he referred to as "defamatory" accusations.
The ads urged Taiwanese to unite together to fight the "pan-red army" led by KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰).
Although the People First Party, New Party and KMT call themselves the "pan-blue" coalition, their opponents have taken to calling the three parties the "pan-red army" for what is seen as their pandering to Beijing.
The newspaper ads said the ouster of former chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) from the KMT was a sign that the party has officially abandoned the pro-Taiwan policies the Lee had worked to implement during his 12 years in office.
The move also demonstrated that the KMT was prepared to "ally with the Chinese communists" to battle the common values and faith of Taiwanese, the advertisement stated.
The ads were sponsored by the Northern Taiwan Society, the Central Taiwan Society, the Southern Taiwan Society, the Eastern Taiwan Society and the Taiwan Association of University Professors.
Chen said the move to expel Lee from the KMT was a matter of party discipline.
He also said that it should not be interpreted as "allying with the Chinese communists."
"This kind of inflammatory political language is intended to split the KMT from the Taiwanese people," Chen said.
Chen said his plan to file the libel suits was personal, as he hasn't yet discussed the newspaper ads with Lien or other officials that were criticized.
Other KMT officials identified by the groups as belonging to the "pan-red army" include KMT Secretary-general Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正) and head of the Organization and Development Committee, Chao Shou-po (趙守博).
A US scholar recently accused KMT members of advising Beijing not to deal with Chen's government.
RSS