The KMT's Evaluation and Discipline Committee yesterday expelled seven party members because they were seeking office under the banners of rival parties in the Dec. 1 legislative elections.
The memberships of four others were revoked for campaigning in local government races without a party nomination or campaigning for the candidates of rival parties.
The move is another mass disciplinary action on the part of the KMT, following the August expulsion of 11 members who defected to the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
The committee's chairman, Chen Kang-chin (陳庚金), explained that his committee decided to expel the seven because running for office under the banner of rival parties is considered a more serious offense than running without the party's nomination.
Although both "expulsion" and "revocation of membership" mean ouster from the party, an expulsion is a more sever punishment, according to KMT rules.
Those who have their membership revoked can have it restored one year later. Members who are expelled are not allowed to rejoin until two years after their ouster.
Of the seven expelled, four are representing the People First Party in the December poll.
They are Lu Chun-hung (呂鈞鴻), who is running in Taipei County, and three others who won the PFP's nomination for legislator-at-large: Lin Huei-kwung (林惠官), president of the Chinese Federation of Labor (中華民國全國總工會), Ku Chung-lien (顧崇廉), former commander-in-chief of the ROC Navy, and Alfred Chen (陳飛龍), the chairman of Namchow Chemical (南僑化工).
The other three are representing the Taiwan Solidarity Union. The first is Eric Wu (吳東昇), chairman of the Taiwan Securities Co (台證綜合證券公司) and a former KMT legislator, who is on the TSU's slate of legislator-at-large candidates. The second is Taoyuan County Council speaker Huang Chin-teh (黃金德), who has registered to run for the legislature in Taoyuan County. The third is Lin Wen-sheng (林文生) who is chief of the Taichung County's Hoping Township and who is running for an Aboriginal seat.
Fengshan Mayor Huang Pa-yeh (黃八野), who insists on running for Kaohsiung County commissioner despite defeat in opinion polls to party nominee Wu Kuang-hsun (吳光訓), had his membership revoked. In the same boat is Chiayi County Government adviser Chen Sheng-san (陳勝三), who is running for Chiayi County commissioner after the party nominated Wong Chung-chun (翁重鈞) for the post.
The membership of legislator Tseng Chen-nung (曾振農) was revoked for campaigning for the DPP's candidate for Chiayi County commissioner, Chen Ming-wen (陳明文).
Yen Yao-hsing (顏耀星), deputy head of the KMT's Tainan County division, received the same punishment as Tseng for campaigning for the DPP's candidate for Tainan County commissioner, Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智).
Meanwhile, violations of discipline by legislator Lin Jih-jia (林志嘉) and Kinmen County commissioner Chen Shui-tsai (陳水在) were not handled during yesterday's meeting because their local divisions have not recommended to the committee what punishment to give them, according to Chen Kang-chin.
Both politicians registered to run in the legislative elections on Thursday without the party's nomination.
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
RSS