Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Policy Committee Director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) yesterday unleashed a barrage of criticism over a range of issues, from the Sunflower movement in 2014; the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) draft transitional justice promotion bill; to renewed calls to pardon former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Tsai, a former KMT legislator, on Tuesday was appointed director of the KMT’s Central Policy Committee, a position responsible for coordinating the party’s central headquarters and legislative caucus.
An interview yesterday with POP Radio, Tsai accused the DPP of trying to launch “green terror,” saying the DPP’s draft transitional justice promotion act was part of its efforts to exert control over both the administrative and legislative branches of the government.
“The DPP is attempting to turn itself into a ‘constitutional monster,’ so it can conduct a political purge against the KMT. This is standard ‘green terror,’” Tsai said in the interview.
The draft act calls for the establishment of a transitional justice promotion committee under the Executive Yuan responsible for making political documents available to the public, removal of authoritarian symbols, redressing judicial injustice and management of the KMT’s ill-gotten party assets.
Turning to the DPP’s proposed bill on monitoring cross-strait agreements, Tsai said prominent Sunflower movement activist Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) only verbally protested the proposed bill, which clings to the idea of “one country, two areas.”
“Lin should have occupied the Legislative Yuan… His failure to do so only underscores the fact that the ‘sunflower’ has withered,” Tsai said, adding that the ideals of the Sunflower movement could not withstand the test of time.
With regard to the DPP Party’s renewed calls for a pardon of Chen, Tsai said the KMT must firmly oppose such a proposal because it was tantamount to decriminalizing corruption.
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
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