KMT Legislator John Chang (章孝嚴) yesterday said that his mission to be included in the late president Chiang Ching-kuo's (蔣經國) official record of family lineage is not a scheme to gather momentum for a 2004 presidential ticket but simply an attempt to fulfill his responsibility as a dutiful son.
Speaking at a party at the Lai Lai Sheraton hotel celebrating the arrival of his new ID card that recognizes his biological father, Chang said, "Some people said that this party, along with my wish to have my parents' name changed on my ID card, are attempts to build up momentum for a presidential challenge."
"Such rumors are simply not true. All these were simply done in order to fulfill my duty as a son in line with filial piety," he added.
Chang, the illegitimate son of late president Chiang Ching-kuo, successfully had his father's name put on his ID card.
Chang's new ID card recognizes Chiang Ching-kuo and his mistress Chang Ya-juo (章亞若) as his parents. Chang had been listed as the son of his biological uncle, Chang Hau-juo (章浩若), and his wife, Chi Chen (季琛). He was granted a new ID card on Dec. 12.
Chang's amendment to his ID has generated a great deal of conjecture within the party that Chang may be planning to run for president in 2004.
At an event last Monday, KMT Legislator Yu Yueh-hsia (游月霞) spoke loudly in support of KMT Chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) bid in the 2004 presidential poll and singled out KMT Vice Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) and John Chang to put on hold on their ambitions for the 2004 presidential election.
"I singled out both Wu and Chang [last week] out of my own intuition, thinking they both are the ones most likely to have ambitions for the 2004 presidential election given their background in the political arena," Yu told the Taipei Times yesterday.
"As a colleague of John Chang, I am happy for him that he is finally be able to be included in the official record of family lineage of his biological father," Yu said.
"However, it would be a different matter if John Chang were to advance his own personal political ambition by taking advantage of his father's surname," he added.
Denying his presidential ambitions at the party yesterday, Chang asked the public not to "politicize" the "return" of his name to Chiang's official record of family lineage.
Yesterday's party, hosted by legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and vice speaker Chiang Ping-kun (江丙坤), both of the KMT, was attended by numerous colleagues and party comrades of Chang.
Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲), whose ministry helped Chang gain the new ID card, showed up at the party as well.
"It is their [Chiang Ching-kuo's and Chang Ya-juo's] wish that I be included in the family's official record of lineage," said Chang on stage, against the backdrop of an enlarged photo of Chiang Ching-kuo.
"I believe they share my joy and pride in heaven at this very moment," he added, with his wife Helen Huang (黃美倫) and three children at his side.
"Now when people ask whom my father is, I finally am able to tell the world, loud and clear, that my real father is Chiang Ching-kuo," he added.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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