Some Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members worry about the party becoming another New Party if incumbent Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) is re-elected next year, KMT caucus convener Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) said yesterday.
Sufin, who on Tuesday called for Hung’s resignation over what he said was a party meeting procedural violation, yesterday said in a radio interview that there are gaps between the party caucus and the party headquarters on various issues, including the direction of the KMT, the party’s assets and the so-called “1992 consensus.”
Tension between the caucus and the headquarters, which has been in the air for some time, manifested in an episode involving Hung railroading through a motion on the party’s election system and dates in a KMT Central Standing Committee meeting last week and the ensuing denunciations from other party heavyweights against the move.
Photo: CNA
Sufin has been one of the most vociferous critics over what he called a “procedural flaw” of the meeting, in which “only five committee members attended the meeting” — which does not meet the quorum — had the final say by bending the rules on what should have been decided by a majority.
The dispute was only partially resolved in this week’s committee meeting as the procedural flaw has yet to be officially recognized, he said.
Radio host Clara Chou (周玉蔻) asked whether opposition to Hung was quelled because she appeared “without the hairpiece she usually wears and without makeup” in a Facebook live video late on Tuesday night, in which she said she wished to have a “heart-to-heart talk” with her supporters and explain her actions in the committee meeting the week before.
“Many said that she was playing weak and trying to appeal to her supporters for sympathy, and committee members felt the pressure,” Chou said.
Sufin denied the allegation against Hung, but said that the meeting on Wednesday failed to properly address the procedural flaw.
Chou said that the decision to increase party representative seats for the party’s Huang Fu-hsing (黃復興) military veterans’ branch, passed on Wednesday, would increase Hung’s chances of re-election, as the military veterans’ branch has always been considered “deep-blue,” and so is Hung.
Sufin said no party member, including KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bing (郝龍斌) and former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), who both criticized the meeting on Wednesday last week, dares to openly challenge the veterans’ branch.
“Not complying with the established regulations would lead to the collapse of the foundation,” he said, adding that it is not the chairpersonship, but the party’s future he has in mind.
Sufin said some senior party members and businesspeople have come to him expressing concerns that the KMT might create a new party
“Becoming another New Party means moving toward the right end of the political spectrum, but the 100-year-old KMT needs to stand in the center in order to be the ruling party again,” he said.
He said that the KMT has to let the party’s middle generation rise to its top echelon and lead, but added that the KMT’s culture is one in which the “top brass need to be respected while they are still here.”
When asked about the various conflicts between the caucus and the headquarters, Sufin said that the caucus “stands with public opinion.”
“We the caucus want to get out of the quagmire [of ill-gotten party assets] as soon as possible, and uphold that the party assets except those required for personnel expenditure have been dealt with,” he said.
“However, the party headquarters wants to protect the party’s assets and does not consider them ill-gotten,” Sufin said.
“The caucus wishes to maintain the [so-called] 1992 consensus, which says ‘one China, different interpretations,’ while the headquarters wants ‘one China, same interpretation,’” he said.
The so-called “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
RSS