Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) acknowledged yesterday that he had joined the Chinese Communist Party in the 1940s -- but said he did so in order to realize his ideas for Taiwan.
In an interview with a local cable-TV station yesterday, Lee said he has long been a strong opponent of communism because he understands it so well that he knows the political theory is doomed to fail.
Lee's interview came after a Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday that the former president had joined the Communists in 1946 through the introduction of Wu Ke-tai (
The newspaper story was based on an interview with Wu, a retired Chinese party official, who said he had meet Lee during a visit to Taipei in March.
Lee's admission triggered an immediate furor in the Legislative Yuan, with TSU and DPP lawmakers defending him and the pan-blue camp attacking him.
Pan-green lawmakers said Lee's Communist Party association was due to his love for Taiwan while PFP and KMT lawmakers accused him of adopting a double standard.
KMT Legislator Cheng Feng-shih (鄭逢時) said it was contradictory for Lee, as a former Communist Party member, to blame the pan-blue camp for attempting to sell out Taiwan by colluding with China.
In his books, Lee has said that he is from the era when the theories of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin were fashionable and Marx's Das Kapital was popular among college students.
According to Lee, young Taiwan-ese embraced communism in the late 1940s because they detested the KMT's alien rule.
The loathing of the KMT intensified, Lee said, after the 228 Incident.
He said he joined the KMT in 1971 because "the safest place is the most dangerous place."
Lee acknowledged yesterday that he had met with Wu earlier this year, but denied most of Wu's comments about the meeting.
The Taiwan-born Wu moved to China in 1949 when he was 24-years old. He was already a Communist Party member.
He had not seen Lee in 55 years, until the two men met this year, reportedly at the former president's home in Taipei.
Wu said that Lee's manners and the way he talked were still the same, but his way of thinking had changed tremendously.
Wu said that he was surprised by Lee's fondness for Japan and the US, given Lee's Communist Party membership.
"As his old friend, I had to tell him he would lead himself into a risky direction," Wu said.
In his interview, Lee was dismissive of his old friend. He said Wu was simply trying to promote himself by talking about Lee.
He also hinted that that Wu's political leanings might not be so strong, saying "the ideals held by communists no longer exist."
Lee said the main reason Wu returned to Taiwan was to claim compensation for his father, who was a victim of the KMT's White Terror era.
A Hualien pomelo farmer refused to sell to China after the country announced it would permit more Taiwanese pomelo imports, prompting widespread support from Taiwanese consumers, who rallied to buy his fruit. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said that China’s General Administration of Customs registered an additional 79 Taiwanese pomelo orchards and packing facilities in Hualien County, allowing more Taiwanese producers to export pomelos to China. “I am a Hualien fruit farmer and I refuse to sell to China,” Liu Tzu-hao (劉子豪) from Ruisui Township (瑞穗) said in an online post. Liu is a well-known farmer in the community and has served
Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) on Wednesday said decommissioned coast guard vessels were given to the Philippines to enhance regional rescue capacity and would not affect Taiwanese fishers’ rights and benefits. Kuan made the remarks after confirmation on Tuesday that a 500-tonne Coast Guard Administration (CGA) patrol and rescue vessel would be given to the Philippine Coast Guard. The donation ceremony was reportedly done in Manila, but whether the vessel — previously numbered “CG123” and named Kinmen (金門) — has been handed over has yet to be confirmed. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) on Wednesday criticized the donation for “taking
UPDATE: The submarine would need to undergo combined systems testing and crew training for navy personnel before it is ready for mission, an expert said Taiwan’s first domestically built submarine, the Hai Kun (Narwhal, 海鯤), could be delivered to the navy as early as next month, military expert and Taiwan Association for Security and Development chairman Chi Tung-yun (紀東昀) said yesterday. The submarine was yesterday morning observed departing for its 21st sea trial and its 15th submerged test. The vessel missed the initial delivery deadline of November last year due to “testing delays,” its primary contractor, shipbuilder CSBC Corp, Taiwan, said in June. The contractor also cited “political pressure from China” in procuring critical equipment. All testing operations are in the final stages, with the
OCT. 31: The antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Eraflu have been distributed to about 4,000 medical facilities nationwide for people in seven groups who develop flu-like symptoms As the domestic influenza epidemic enters its peak season and continues to escalate, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday announced that publicly funded influenza antiviral drugs for seven eligible groups have been extended to Oct. 31, allowing those who develop flu-like symptoms to receive the medication without undergoing a rapid influenza test. The CDC has extended the expanded use of flu antiviral drugs to seven groups: healthcare and influenza-prevention personnel; residents and staff at nursing homes, long-term care facilities and similar institutions; kindergarten and daycare workers and home-based caregivers; students from kindergarten through high school, vocational high school and the
RSS