Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday rejected the “hall of one voice” label attached to the party after it earlier this week revoked the memberships of five party members who often publicly criticized the party.
“The decision was necessary to uphold the party’s discipline. Party members can criticize the party, chairman, or any party leader, but they cannot undermine party unity,” Chu said.
Chu said that the most important purpose of the expulsion was to call on everyone to “unite as one,” to refrain from “waving a blue flag to oppose the blue flag,” or to “collude with the pan-green camp behind the pan-blue camp’s back.”
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“These kinds of behaviors are impermissible,” Chu said of the expulsions.
The purge has drawn derisive comments that the KMT is a “hall of one voice,” where people with different views are not allowed in.
Concerns were also raised that it could accentuate divisions which the party has been struggling with in that, except for alternative Central Committee member Lee Po-jung (李柏融), the other four kicked out of the party are likely to face off against their previous KMT colleagues in January’s legislative election.
The KMT, which has picked Legislator Yen Kuan-hen (顏寬恆) over Chi Kuo-tung (紀國棟) to run in the second constituency of Taichung, would have to submissively surrender the seat to the Democratic Progressive Party if Chi decides to run as an independent candidate to make it a three-way race, SET-TV reported.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), seeking re-election in the eighth constituency of Taipei, consisting of Wenshan District (文山) and part of Zhongzheng District (中正), is expected to run against Taipei City Councilor Lee Ching-yuan (李慶元), who has hinted he may run against Lai as an independent candidate.
Former Taipei city councilor Yang Shih-chiu (楊實秋) has been rumored to be running for a legislative seat in the seventh constituency of Taipei, including Xinyi District (信義) and part of Songshan District (松山), against KMT Legislator Alex Fei (費鴻泰).
Yao Li-ming (姚立明), who was the campaign manager of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in last year’s mayoral election, recently confirmed Yang is among a few KMT politicians he tried talking into running as an independent legislative candidate.
Chang Sho-wen (張碩文), who quit the KMT to join the People First Party before he was expelled from the KMT, is running for a legislative seat in the third constituency of New Taipei City in Sanchong District (三重) where the KMT is likely to nominate Lee Chien-lung (李乾龍), who served as mayor of the former Sanchong city.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
RSS