The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is to discipline three Irrigation and Water Conservancy Association heads over their public support for a plan to nationalize the associations, which is against the party line, a party source said on Sunday.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Wednesday last week passed amendments to the Organic Regulations for Irrigation and Water Conservancy Associations (農田水利會組織通則) amid a KMT boycott.
The amendments abolish direct elections for association heads and mandates the government to fill the positions by appointments.
On Tuesday last week, Hsieh Fu-hung (謝福弘) of Miaoli, Lin Keng-hsin (林庚辛) of Nantou and Yang Ming-feng (楊明風) of Chiayi-Tainan voiced their support for the proposal by speaking at a news conference called by the DPP caucus.
Their public support of the amendments was deemed embarrassing to the KMT, as KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) was at the time scrambling local party chapters and the pro-KMT associations to oppose the amendments.
The KMT is this week to initiate disciplinary hearings against the three association heads at local party chapters, the source said.
The three are to be accused of “contradicting the ideals, charter, platform, policy or resolutions of the party,” which carry the minimum penalty of suspension of party membership, the source said.
The maximum penalty is expulsion from the KMT, the source said, adding that such a measure would need to be ratified by the KMT Central Standing Committee tomorrow.
Yang has deviated from the party’s position and the KMT must treat the issue with an attitude that will be conducive for maintaining party cohesion, KMT Tainan City Councilor Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介), who is also the city’s chapter convener, said on Sunday.
“Yang called a news conference to support the government’s appointment of irrigation and water conservancy association heads, and put himself on a collision course with the party’s ideals and policies. Yang could have been decisive about it and quit the party himself,” Hsieh said.
DPP Legislator Liu Chao-hao (劉櫂豪) criticized the KMT’s move, saying the “the incident shows that the KMT cannot see past partisanship when debating policies. Its path will get ever more narrow.”
Yang told the news conference that water is not blue or green, but clear, Liu said, adding that the KMT’s disciplinary action demonstrates “a tendency to self-belittle.”
The KMT in 1993 supported a proposal to reform the associations along the lines of the DPP’s current policy and it is saddening that the KMT would punish its members over the issue, Liu said.
The DDP is only doing what the KMT lacked the political will to do, he added.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their
RSS