Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) heavyweights yesterday continued to exchange barbs over the moving forward of the party’s chairperson election by two months.
The KMT Central Standing Committee on Wednesday passed a motion to change the scheduled date for the chairperson election with fewer than 10 of the 40 committee members present, which was lower than the quorum of 20 for the meeting to be valid.
Unnamed sources said that at least 26 committee members were absent with the aim of boycotting the meeting.
Photo: CNA
Despite the party’s regulations of what constitutes a quorum, KMT headquarters said it was using a definition of a quorum provided by the Ministry of the Interior, that set the quorum as the total number of members minus those who called in sick or who were absent due to business.
It said that according to that definition, the quorum was met for the meeting to pass the motion.
KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who questioned the legitimacy of the meeting on Thursday, yesterday again called for a discussion about the election date at the committee’s meeting next week and said that party headquarters should allow the discussion with “sincerity and open-mindedness.”
Asked about committee member Yao Chiang-lin’s (姚江臨) protest about the validity of the meeting and his claim that he would take legal action against KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), Hau said he hoped that an internal discussion on reaching a consensus would take place first.
Former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), who has been widely tipped to run for chairman, also took issue with the decision, saying that not following the party’s rules would incur criticism and disapproval, which damages “the party’s image of solidarity.”
Committee member Sean Lien (連勝文), son of former party chairman Lien Chan (連戰), weighed in by criticizing KMT headquarters for “suppressing different opinions with force rather than undertaking communication and coordination.”
Sean Lien said he used to feel sorry for Hung, as he believed that she deserved an apology from the party when she was, using “questionable procedures,” replaced by then-KMT chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) as the party’s presidential candidate last year.
“But I was dumbfounded by the meeting on Wednesday. The forced change to the party’s rules by suppressing different opinions repeated itself, only now the past victim has become the new wielder of power,” he said.
In response to Sean Lien’s criticism, Hung said it was a “misunderstanding” and that she hopes those who hold positions on the committee would attend all its meetings to remain well-informed.
Hung said she was “very sorry to hear that” when asked about Yao’s plan to take legal action, adding that it was actually Yao who proposed moving the date of the election.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS