Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who on Monday evening announced his bid for KMT chairperson, yesterday said that the party must come to a new consensus on its cross-strait stance, as the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “have collaborated to destroy” the Republic of China (ROC).
Hau stepped down along with former KMT chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) on Wednesday last week, following the party’s defeats in the Jan. 11 presidential and legislative elections. He launched his bid via Facebook on Monday.
Hau is the third person to commit to joining the KMT’s March 7 chairperson by-election, following National Taiwan University political science professor Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) and Blue Sky Action Alliance convener Wu Chih-chang (武之璋).
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
If elected chairman, he would be committed to helping the KMT overcome its “unprecedented crisis” and fostering young talent in the party, Hau wrote on Facebook.
To ensure the party is in touch with public opinion and to encourage more young members to participate, he would promote new regulations to guarantee the party’s elected officials meet certain quotas, and that there are members aged 40 and younger in the KMT Central Committee and Central Standing Committee, he said.
He would also promote internal dialogue to develop a cross-strait policy for the party, he said.
During an interview with radio station News98 yesterday, Hau said that one reason the KMT lost the elections was because “the DPP and CCP have collaborated to destroy the ROC.”
While the DPP rejects the “1992 consensus” and even interprets it as supporting Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula, the CCP refuses to acknowledge the existence of the ROC or the consensus’ perquisite of “one China, with each side having its own interpretation of what China means,” he said.
Although the “1992 consensus” worked well for both sides of the Strait from 2008 to 2016, currently “there is no consensus between the KMT and the CCP,” he said.
If the KMT cannot develop a new cross-strait policy that is acceptable to the public and the other side of the Taiwan Strait, “the KMT’s development would be limited,” he said.
Asked for comment, KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), who has been described by some political watchers as a political star of the KMT’s middle generation, said he looks forward to the reform plans of any party member who is willing to shoulder the responsibility of party chairperson.
As a KMT member, he would seek to assist the party in the reforms that follow, he added.
Separately yesterday, KMT Central Committee member Sean Lien (連勝文) told Pop Radio that he has received 200 to 300 text messages from friends urging him to run for KMT chairperson.
However, even if he decides to launch a bid, as an individual he would not be able shoulder all responsibility for leading the KMT, he said.
The party needs collective leadership, he said, adding that, more importantly, members must avoid conflicts of interest.
Some members run for chairperson because they want to run for president and end up tearing the party apart, he said.
Many Central Standing Committee members spend their time fawning over the upper management with the hope of obtaining a legislator-at-large seat, he added.
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.
Additional reporting by Wu Su-wei and Chen Yu-fu
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
RSS