Newly elected Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday vowed to learn from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and recruit talent from schools and at the grassroots level to prepare the party for a political comeback.
Hung, the party’s first female chairperson, was sworn in at a handover ceremony at KMT headquarters, which was attended by several senior party members, including President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), Legislator and former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and former KMT chairmen Lien Chan (連戰) and Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄).
New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who replaced Hung as the KMT’s presidential candidate in October last year, appeared briefly at the ceremony to greet the attendees, but left before Ma and Hung arrived.
“We have to admit that the KMT did not give young people enough room to fully bring their talents into full play. I must say our opponent [the DPP] is more daring in recruiting talented individuals,” Hung said in her inaugural speech.
Hung said she does not rule out learning from the party’s opponents and drawing from their strong suits, adding that she plans to go into schools and the grassroots level to scout for political talent.
To reconstruct our “combat squads,” the KMT needs to expound its views on several key issues, including the Constitution, the founding principles of the nation, national identity, cross-strait relations, Taiwan’s global and regional positions, and livelihood issues, Hung said.
Acknowledging president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Hung said Taiwan does not belong only to the DPP, but to the entire population of the Republic of China (ROC).
“I hereby swear to defend the ROC, the path of peaceful cross-strait development and the values of democracy, rule of law, integrity and distributive justice,” Hung said.
“I will also ensure that the KMT fulfills its responsibility as an opposition party,” she said.
Ma said that while many KMT supporters were dispirited by the party’s defeats in the 2014 local elections and the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative races, some still harbor strong ambitions to help the KMT make a comeback.
“I am responsible for the party’s two recent electoral failures. I will stand alongside Chairperson Hung to help her push for party reforms,” Ma said.
Hung is to serve as party chairperson until July next year. She was elected to fill the post left vacant by Chu, who stepped down as chairman on Jan. 16 to take responsibility for the KMT’s electoral loss.
Chu was elected as party chairman in a by-election in January last year, after his predecessor, Ma, resigned in December 2014 over the KMT’s landslide defeat in the 2014 nine-in-one elections.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
RSS