The pan-blue party caucuses seem to be at odds again with their parties' central leadership, with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus disagreeing with a cross-party agreement for a post-legislative elections merger.
On Wednesday KMT Secretary-General Lin Feng-cheng (林豐正) said the party would ask its members to sign an agreement that the merger would occur after the year-end legislative elections. Yesterday the caucuses called for the union to be speeded up.
At the Legislative Yuan, KMT caucus whip Huang Teh-fu (黃德福) said that the merger was something the majority of the public expects, so it should take place as soon as possible.
"The merger doesn't have to wait until February. If everything goes smoothly, we can proceed with the merger earlier," Huang said.
People's First Party (PFP) caucus whip Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) said his party wasn't the one having problems with the merger.
Liu said that the PFP had not set any limitations on the merger, and it could sign the merger document at any time. Liu noted that in cross-party negotiations earlier this month, both parties agreed to delay the merger until after the polls.
"The KMT said that issues such as party organization, staff and funds could not be resolved before the election. These are all KMT's problems, not the PFP's," Liu said.
"The PFP is OK with anything, so go ask the KMT about the merger," Liu said.
PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) also spoke briefly about the merger yesterday.
"It is good that the KMT has finally understood that its members should sign a statement of intent about the merger," he said, adding that his party, through Feng Ting-kuo (馮定國) initiated such a signature drive among its members earlier this month.
Soong spoke at a meeting with the Democratic Advancement Alliance yesterday where the PFP presented its proposed framework for cross-strait negotiations.
Soong told the anti-arms budget alliance that the PFP's proposed Taiwan peace law is more concrete than President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) proposal for cross-strait relations made in his Double Ten National Day speech.
Chen called for cross-strait negotiations to resume on "the basis of the 1992 meeting in Hong Kong," saying that China has long held that talks will be possible when Taiwan recognizes the "1992 consensus."
Soong said the PFP proposal identifies clearly who and what should be discussed in negotiations, which Chen did not address.
The alliance gave a neutral response to the PFP's proposal, saying that it needs time to look over the draft legislation.
"We support the idea of parties coming up with a framework for cross-strait peace," said alliance convener Chang Ya-chung (張亞中), adding he found the PFP approach of composing a draft law unique.
"Before, policies towards cross-strait relations were made and executed by the administration. However, through legislation, there is more room for the voice of democracy," Chang said.
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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