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
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
The Taipei District Court today ruled to extend the incommunicado detention of former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) for two more months as part of an ongoing corruption trial. Codefendants in the case — real-estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and Ko's former mayoral office head Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗) — were granted bail of NT$100 million (US$3.4 million) and NT$20 million respectively. Sheen and Lee would also be barred from leaving the country for eight months and prohibited from contact with, harassing, threatening or inquiring after the case with codefendants or witnesses. The two would also be