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Lee urges KMT to put own house in order

Former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday challenged the KMT to kick him out of the party, but denied he was the one that needed discipline.

Instead, he suggested that those within the party who have distorted its direction, pandered to leaders in Beijing and sold out Taiwan should be punished first.

"I am nearly 80 years old. If you want to cut my head off then go ahead and do it anytime," Lee said yesterday, addressing a Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) training camp for young leaders in Taichung.

"However, the simple problem is that the direction you are going in is wrong."

While the KMT is currently reviewing ousting its former chairman, they are doing so with caution.

Earlier this month, Lee attended rallies for the newly formed TSU, which he hopes will bring stability back to the nation's unruly legislature by supporting the DPP.

His attendance at the rallies have prompted KMT members to call for Lee's ouster.

Political observers say that the KMT has hesitated taking any strong action against Lee for fear that such a move would create more turmoil within the party.

When plans last week for party leaders to meet with Lee failed, the KMT sent Lee a letter expressing their concerns.

Lee's comments yesterday were his first public reaction to the letter.

Lee said there was no reason for him to respond directly to the letter because it was clear what he has been fighting for over the last 12 years. However, the KMT should ask itself where its loyalties lie, he said.

"Why is it that your party hasn't done anything to punish those who used to say they were `anti-communist' and who've now run off to China to reunite with the Communists?" Lee asked.

Responding to Lee's comments, most of the 500 individuals attending the training camp at a hotel in Taichung jumped to their feet and cheered.

Lee continued: "Is that the meaning of democracy? I don't know what the party leaders are doing. I think those people should be handled first, then you can come and take care of me."

The KMT, in a late press release, said that it was "shocked and confused" by Lee's comments.

Lee is not the only one who has raised questions concerning the KMT's loyalty. A recent report published by a US scholar confirmed that many KMT politicians who travel to China and meet with China's leaders have urged them to not communicate with the DPP government.

Lee said that the "tragedy of Taiwan" was that for the past 100 years -- during the Japanese colonial period and under the rule of the KMT -- the people of Taiwan were for the most part unable to be masters of their own destiny.

"It is a great pity that the Taiwanese do not have the power to rule. That is the tragedy of Taiwan. I will fight to release this kind of pressure," Lee said.

The strange thing is that those people who advocated being anti-communist in the past now go to China, leading others behind them, Lee said.

"You young people should challenge and question those people, and ask them why did you ask me to fight them in the past and now you sell out the people of Taiwan. We must be resolved and fight for the fate of Taiwanese."

Lee noted that over 100 years ago Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) said that the rights belong to the people, but that ideal has yet to be implemented.

"Those politicians only speak of freedom but all they care about in the end is power and control. They just use those slogans as tools to manipulate and cheat the public," Lee said.
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