Claiming that Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) has been a follower of the "Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) policy line," the former president's son John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) called on Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members to support Wang in his bid to take over the party helm.
Wang is vying with Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
The first-ever KMT grassroots members' election of their leader is scheduled for Friday.
John Chiang made his appeal at a seminar attended by more than 200 veterans and their families from Taipei County.
They were invited by KMT Legislator Chou Hsi-wei (
VETERAN VOTE
Chiang urged the veterans and their families to throw their support behind Wang, who claimed he has worked hard over the past years to increase, not decrease, budgets for the veterans' community.
Chiang tried to help Wang dispel doubts about his loyalty to the Republic of China (ROC) as some have suspected that Wang has been a follower of the Lee Teng-hui (
"In the past, I was among those who followed Lee," said Chiang, who added that KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
It's not fair to link Wang to the Lee policy line, he said.
Wang said veterans, the title of the ROC and its Constitution are all "precious assets" that need to be protected by all means and must not be "abolished."
Respecting veterans, most of whom moved to Taiwan with Chiang Kai-shek (
`SLANDER'
Wang said some people have been "slandering" him by calling him a follower of the Lee Teng-hui policy line.
"Would Lee say that the Diaoyutai Islets are part of ROC territory? Would Lee say that he is against Taiwan independence?" Wang said.
Wang pledged that he will act as a "harmonizer" in national politics, and to do that the largest opposition party that he hopes to lead must shed the practice of inciting ethnic divisions.
"Otherwise, how can we oppose other parties using the same tactic in the future?" he asked.
He said only when ethnic divisions are dissolved, can the KMT have a chance to return to power.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS