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.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS