The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the New Party are not likely to hold an event together to celebrate this year’s Double Ten National Day, sources said yesterday.
At last year’s celebration, New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明) told attendees that “the two parties are one family,” to which KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) responded that Yok’s remarks were “heartwarming.”
However, the KMT and the pan-blue Songtao Club (松濤社) seem to be distancing themselves from the New Party in making plans for this year’s celebrations, sources said.
Relations between the two parties have soured, while the New Party was listed as a co-organizer of the KMT’s previous national day celebrations, the two would not be “joining hands” this year, a KMT member said yesterday, on condition of anonymity.
The Songtao Club, which supports keeping the national flag unchanged, also supports preserving the nation’s name as the Republic of China and does not agree with the New Party’s pro-China position.
The club is to meet with KMT officials on Thursday to finalize whether the two are to hold a joint celebration this year, sources familiar with the matter said.
A joint celebration would be more of a political rally to mobilize support for Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the KMT’s presidential candidate, with Han delivering a speech, the sources said.
If Han cannot make it, his wife, Lee Chia-fen (李佳芬), or his daughter, Han Bing (韓冰), would be invited to speak, the sources said, adding that support would also be mobilized for legislative candidates.
The split between the KMT and the New Party might have been sparked by proposals at a New Party congress last month that the party support a “one country, two systems” model in Taiwan and peaceful unification across the Taiwan Strait, they said.
The New Party has named former party secretary-general Yang Shih-kuang (楊世光) as its presidential candidate on Jan. 11 next year.
The party plans to nominate candidates for legislative seats in Taipei’s Shilin (士林) and Beitou (北投) districts, and urges people to support it when voting, something that worked against it when it promoted the same candidates as the KMT, the sources said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS