Former president Lee Teng-hui (
If Lee's attempts prove successful, the KMT -- dealt a serious blow in the elections -- might suffer from a mass departure in February when the new legislative session begins.
Lee Shan-ren (
"[Lee] has been very concerned about our future [after our defeat in the election]. He told us that if we are interested, we can join the Taiwan Advocates or the TSU," Lee Shan-ren said.
Lee said that, besides himself, pro-localization KMT lawmaker Chen Horng-chi (
On Wednesday Lin announced that he would join the TSU and will act as the party's deputy secretary general, while Chen and Lee Shan-ren say they have yet to make a decision because they are still KMT members.
Lee Shan-ren said he will first join Taiwan Advocates, a non-political group, next month.
The outgoing KMT lawmaker added that the TSU has been actively approaching lawmakers of all political affiliations asking them to join the party in the hope of broadening the TSU's political influence.
Reports said that Lee Teng-hui will meet with more KMT lawmakers in the near future.
Lin's joining the TSU and Lee Shan-ren's future participation in Taiwan Advocates suggests a possible exodus of pro-localization KMT members is imminent.
"There will be many more to come," Lee Teng-hui told the media on Wednesday after meeting with Lin at TSU headquarters.
Shu Chin-chiang (
"It is like embracing children who had gone astray and then returned home," said Shu, commenting on Lin's change of allegiance.
Facing a possible mass departure of party members, KMT spokesman Justin Chou (周守訓) said that the party feels regret over the matter but "will not try to keep them by offering them any perks."
Chou stated that the party has been expediting its pace of reform since the elections and will regret the loss should some of its members choose to leave over disagreements about the changing nature of the party.
"But it wouldn't be such a bad thing if these people [intending to leave] are really black sheep who have been hiding in the party," he said.
"Whatever the reasons for their departure, the KMT will not offer any privileges in order to keep them, because one can tell true friends only in times of trouble. ... If they want to go, let them go."
The KMT, struggling with the issue of localization, was routed in the Dec. 1 elections. It lost its five-decade grip on the legislature, taking only 68 of the 225 seats being contested. Before the election, the party held 110 and controlled the body.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS