A former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member, who was sacked in June for his outspokenness, has confirmed plans to join a committee investigating the party’s illegal assets, drawing fire from KMT members.
Committee of Illegal Party Asset Settlement chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) on Thursday said that he consulted with former KMT spokesman Yang Wei-chung (楊偉中) last week and invited him to join the committee.
Koo said that Yang immediately agreed, saying that he has always advocated honest handling of the KMT party assets issue, but had no way to push for reform from within the party.
Yang confirmed the meeting with Koo and expressed his desire to promote the handling of the KMT’s assets and other transitional justice measures.
Koo said that the committee would draw upon Yang’s experience as a former KMT member to balance the committee’s efforts.
Koo has also met with New Power Party members and is expected to release a complete list of committee members next week.
Answering reporters’ questions yesterday morning, Yang said that proper handling of the party assets issue requires “stepping outside of blue and green party biases.”
His comments were echoed by Koo.
“This should not be a battle of parties trying to settle accounts with each other,” Koo said, adding that the committee’s efforts are supported by most of the public.
When asked if his own salary as a former KMT member should be surrendered, Yang said: “Measures will be executed according to the decisions of the committee. Naturally, individuals and groups associated with the party will not be exempted.”
KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy
director-general Hu Wen-chi (胡文琦) lambasted Yang for being “the sword and hired thug of the Democratic Progressive Party in their battle against the KMT” and said that the decision to expel Yang from the party was sagacious.
Addressing Yang, Hu said: “I hope [you] will maintain a good conscience, discuss things as they are and get to know the KMT anew.”
Hu said that Yang was announcing his plans to resign before the presidential elections were concluded earlier this year and that he later began making incessant attacks against the KMT, making him intolerable among party constituents.
Yang’s decision to approach the Taiwan Solidarity Union and his public support for Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are evidence of his early intentions of joining the pan-green camp, Hu said.
“It is not the least bit surprising for the KMT that Yang wants to join the Committee of Illegal Party Asset Settlement,” he said.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
RSS