Outgoing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday urged supporters not to blame other KMT members for the party’s unprecedented loss in Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections, saying he must take full responsibility.
Chu made the remarks on the sidelines of a morning tea gathering for the KMT’s voluntary workers at his national campaign headquarters in Taipei to thank them for their dedication during the campaign.
“I should shoulder all responsibility. It is me who ought to take the largest share of responsibility,” he said when asked to comment on some voters’ belief that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) should be held accountable for the KMT’s landslide defeat.
Photo: CNA
As for whether he would consider staying on, Chu said his resignation took effect immediately.
“Out of respect for the KMT Central Standing Committee, I will formally deliver my resignation at an extraordinary meeting of the committee tomorrow [today]. However, technically, I have stepped down as KMT chairman,” Chu said.
Chu announced his resignation after conceding defeat to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in the presidential election by 3.08 million votes.
The committee is set to appoint a vice chair to serve as interim chairman until a chairmanship election is held, which must be done within three months.
As for whom among the hopefuls was most competent to replace him, Chu said he would respect the interim chairman’s arrangements.
Chu said the party’s next steps should be to cultivate more local-level politicians that would attract younger voters to the party, as well as to improve cooperation within the pan-blue camp.
However, there appears to be division in the party about Chu’s stepping down.
KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) yesterday posted a picture on Facebook of a proposal allegedly drawn up by Central Standing Committee members that is to be tendered at today’s meeting and wrote: “What a group of helpless ass-kissers.”
The proposal urges Chu to remain chairman, saying that he is not to blame for the election losses and he is still the person best-equipped to lead the KMT back into power.
KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said on a political talk show that she was not impressed by Chu’s concession speech and that she only felt sorry for her peers who lost their seats.
“Chu’s performance during the election was simply preposterous. His campaign strategies and tactics were failures. He was also reluctant to accept others’ advice and made a mess in his replacement of Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) as the KMT’s candidate,” Lo said. “That is why Chu must take the largest share of responsibility for the party’s failure.”
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
RSS