Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) remark about cooperating with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to form a “pan-blue alliance” is part of Wu’s plan to become legislative speaker, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who is also TPP chairman, said yesterday.
In a radio interview on Tuesday, Wu said that if the KMT only wins about 50 seats in the legislative elections on Jan. 11, he would try to invite the People First Party, the TPP and other pan-blue parties to form an “alliance of freedom, democracy and rule of law.”
TPP spokeswoman Chen Su-yu (陳思宇) on Monday said on Facebook that “while people are intentionally trying to categorize the TPP as ‘pan-blue,’ Chairman Wu has other thoughts — pretending to take advantage of the TPP, while substantially trying to obtain personal benefit, which is a bigger hidden problem.”
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The TPP is focused on improving “national governance” and “national interest,” and would not consider any political party an enemy, Chen said, adding that cooperation on some political issues is possible, but only under the premise of advancing public interests, not personal interests.
She said she has suggested that Wu give up his KMT legislator-at-large nomination, and that the party’s list should exclude controversial individuals such as retired lieutenant general Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷) and retired National Police University associate professor Yeh Yu-lan (葉毓蘭).
Asked for comment on Wu’s remarks, Ko yesterday said the KMT chairman is “too good at scheming,” and that they are part of Wu’s plan to become legislative speaker.
The KMT’s electoral strategy has shifted from having an advantageous position (winning more votes in local elections on Nov. 24 last year) to losing, because Wu encouraged Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and former Hon Hai Precision Industry chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) to run for president, when he wants to run for president himself and is now plotting to enter the Legislative Yuan, Ko said.
Ko later said in a radio interview that judging by the current situation, he thinks that the Democratic Progressive Party will retain power after the elections, but he predicted that it would change its cross-strait policies, because the situation cannot continue.
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
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