Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said his remarks that the KMT Youth Corps could produce another Hu Jintao (
The formation of the KMT Youth Corps, which will be established in March, was one of Ma's campaign promises in last year's KMT chairmanship election.
The initiative is seen as an attempt to inject new blood into the party to boost reform. Ma said last week that he hoped the corps could produce another Hu Jintao.
Ma yesterday said the public had misunderstood his remarks.
"I did not laud the Communist Party. I was just trying to emphasize that the KMT should take our young people more seriously," he said.
Ma said his comments not only referred to Hu and China's Communist Youth League, but also former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who was president of his party's youth corps.
"What I mean is that if the KMT doesn't value young people, then it will be worse than the Communist Party," he added.
The KMT Youth Corps has been dubbed by the media as a "clique of princes," with senior members that include former KMT chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) son, Lien Sheng-wen (連勝文) and KMT legislator John Wu (吳志揚), the son of KMT Vice Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄).
But Ma came under attack from former Taipei City cultural affairs chief Lung Ying-tai (龍應台), an essayist with a wide audience in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.
Lung, who was a Ma appointee, described the remarks as "the worst joke that Ma has ever told" in an article that appeared yesterday in the China Times, a local Chinese-language newspaper.
"Ma's remarks indicated that he hasn't thought deeply about what sort of system the Chinese Communist Party's youth corps is, and what sort of country [China] is under Hu's leadership," she said.
In the article entitled, "Please persuade me with civilization: An open letter to Mr. Hu Jintao," Lung said the closure of Bing Dian (Freezing Point), the weekly supplement of the China Youth Daily crushed the last hopes of many Taiwanese that Hu would allow a more open society.
"What I really want to say, [Mr. Hu], is that as a Taiwanese, I don't care about whether [proposed gift pandas] Tuan Tuan (
"But Taiwanese like me really care about the circumstances of Bing Dian ... There are many Taiwanese who still deeply love the land of China; how can you discuss reunification with them without being cursed or sneered at?" she asked.
also see story:
Editor slams CCP over closure
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
RSS