In an about face, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said it is willing to talk with Premier Frank Hsieh (
However, the KMT said Chiang's appointment was conditional on a consensus being reached on at least five matters.
KMT spokesman Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭) said the party feared Chiang would become a lame duck in the post, and therefore wanted to come to an agreement with the government on Taiwan's national status; direct links with China; construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant; changing the national title; and the investigation into the assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮).
In addition, Chang said, to avoid Chiang becoming "another Tang Fei [
Tang, a KMT party member, was appointed by Chen in 2000. The KMT has maintained that Tang's influence was curtailed by the Chen administration.
"Although the KMT is in opposition, it has always cared about national development. The KMT feels that everyone must participate in securing the happiness and prosperity of the people," Chang said.
"For stability, there must be cross-strait peace. For prosperity, there must be economic prosperity. As a result, the KMT welcomes political cooperation," he said.
Chiang was guarded about developments yesterday.
Chiang told reporters at the legislature yesterday afternoon that he would consider accepting Hsieh's offer if the KMT supported him.
"If I am to join the Cabinet, the KMT must first reach a consensus on ... allowing members of opposition parties to join the Cabinet," Chiang said. "For Taiwan's economy to flourish and develop there must first be cross-strait reconciliation and cooperation between governing and opposition parties.
"Many people from the business and financial world have encouraged me to become a government official, but until these problems have been resolved there is no point in having me join the Cabinet as an individual," Chiang said.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) mention of Taiwan’s official name during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Wednesday was likely a deliberate political play, academics said. “As I see it, it was intentional,” National Chengchi University Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies professor Wang Hsin-hsien (王信賢) said of Ma’s initial use of the “Republic of China” (ROC) to refer to the wider concept of “the Chinese nation.” Ma quickly corrected himself, and his office later described his use of the two similar-sounding yet politically distinct terms as “purely a gaffe.” Given Ma was reading from a script, the supposed slipup
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The bodies of two individuals were recovered and three additional bodies were discovered on the Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑) in Taroko National Park, eight days after the devastating earthquake in Hualien County, search-and-rescue personnel said. The rescuers reported that they retrieved the bodies of a man and a girl, suspected to be the father and daughter from the Yu (游) family, 500m from the entrance of the trail on Wednesday. The rescue team added that despite the discovery of the two bodies on Friday last week, they had been unable to retrieve them until Wednesday due to the heavy equipment needed to lift