KMT officials said yesterday that they would attempt to convince its estranged former chairman Lee Teng-hui (
Party members are feeling betrayed and jilted after Lee spent the weekend stumping for a rival political group, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU). They said Lee broke KMT rules by campaigning for the TSU.
Lee himself is upset by the party's infidelity to pro-Taiwan and localization policies that he worked to implement during his 12 years in power.
Chen Kang-chin (
Chen said Lee should follow the example of other political leaders such as Shih Ming-te (施明德) and Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良), former DPP chairmen who quit that party due to irreconcilable differences.
"There have been many from the party's grassroots who support ousting Lee," Chen said. "Now that Lee has shown he has no feelings for the party -- and that he doesn't care about the party's rules -- I hope He will follow what [the DPP chairmen] have done, leaving their party voluntarily."
Chen said it was time for the KMT and Lee to go their separate ways. "We were good together, but now it's appropriate that we separate in an amicable fashion," he said.
In 1999, Hsu offered to leave the DPP because he no longer saw eye to eye with the party ideologically. Shih did the same last year.
Out of courtesy to its former chairman, the KMT plans to send envoys to talk Lee into resigning, Chen said.
Sources within the party said KMT Secretary-General Lin Feng-cheng (
KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) spoke about the issue in direct terms for the first time in a long time yesterday.
Lien said the party would deal with Lee's activities for the TSU this weekend "in a serious manner."
Chen said that the KMT's disciplinary committee will call a meeting tomorrow to discuss the issue.
Since retiring, Lee has been a vocal critic of his party, which has abandoned his pro-Taiwan policies in hopes of ingratiating itself with Beijing.
He has also been disappointed with Lien -- his chosen successor -- who after last year's election formed an alliance with James Soong (
In August, Lee helped form the TSU in the hopes that the new party would carry on his Taiwan-first policies. However, he has remained a member of KMT.
Many believe that he's waiting for the party to initiate the divorce by kicking him out -- a move that would make him a martyr and increase his popularity among his supporters.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
RSS