Former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said he would “say goodbye” to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) if Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) runs for president on the KMT ticket.
Following President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) expression of disappointment and disagreement with KMT Chairman and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) decision not to continue the party’s lawsuit against Wang over his KMT membership, Lo said on Saturday that he does not approve of Chu’s decision either, but “could understand his difficult position as the party’s leader.”
“While not pursuing the case against Wang was detrimental to the party, its overall grade has remained positive,” Lo said.
However, should Wang represent the KMT in next year’s presidential race, Lo said it would be “time for me to say goodbye to this party.”
Meanwhile, former KMT legislator Chang Sho-wen (張碩文) has called for Ma’s expulsion from the party.
“Ma alone has the potential power [to annihilate the KMT] that is greater than the Democratic Progressive Party,” Chang said.
“The reasons Ma cited for expelling Wang were the Wang’s [bad] influence on the party’s solidarity and his damage to its reputation, but Ma has also riven the party by using the judicial system to initiate a political struggle against an adversary within the party, and tainted the party’s reputation with his unpopular policies,” Chang said.
“The KMT, for these reasons, should also be able to revoke Ma’s membership,” he added.
While Chang is not a party representative, he said he has heard that some party representatives are planning to make such a proposal at the KMT’s national congress this year.
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
Reports of Taiwanese going missing, being detained or interrogated, or having their personal liberties restricted in China increased about fourfold annually last year, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Last year, 221 Taiwanese who traveled to China were reported missing, were detained and interrogated, or otherwise had their personal freedom restricted, up from 55 the previous year, the council said. Reopening group tours to China would be risky, as it would leave travelers with no way to seek help through official channels after Beijing shut down dialogue between the associations tasked with handling cross-strait tourism, the MAC said. Taipei’s Taiwan Strait Tourism
RSS