The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday revoked Defense Minister Lee Jye's (
"Lee has said that he only listened to what the ruling party said. Such comments seriously jeopardize ... military ethics," the KMT's Evaluation and Discipline Committee said in a written statement yesterday.
The committee had decided to revoke Lee's membership at a meeting on Wednesday, but the decision was only announced yesterday.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
As the country's highest-ranking military officer and a KMT member, Lee should not have made disrespectful comments about former KMT chairman Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), the committee said.
"Lee showed disrespect for the [late party] chairman. He is an opportunist who is out to please those in power. He surrendered to the ruling party's political ideologies by saying that `I listen to whichever party is in power,'" the KMT said in a statement.
"The KMT decided to revoke his membership because he has not only violated the military's code of ethics ... but also triggered attacks from the public and damaged the party's reputation," it said.
The defense ministry last month ordered the removal of hundreds of statues of Chiang from military bases despite strong protest from the KMT, which denounced the move as part of efforts from the government to sever the nation's "Chinese roots."
Lee has denied claims that he took the initiative to remove the statues and said they were only "temporarily moved indoors for storage."
The KMT also accused the minister of pandering to the whims of those in power and fawning over the DPP government.
The party decided to revoke Lee's membership as his comments and actions have met with harsh criticism from voters and seriously tarnished the KMT's image, the committee said.
Lee responded to his expulsion at a legislative session yesterday.
"We recognize former president Chiang's contributions to the military. ... I regret the KMT's decision, but I accept it," he said.
Lee said he was sorry that he had been expelled from the KMT, but added that he would not consider an offer from the DPP to join the ruling party at this moment.
When the KMT's legislative caucus announced Lee's expulsion yesterday, DPP Legislator Hsueh Ling (
"I am sorry about what they [the KMT] did, but I am also thankful that they did it. It came at the right time, because someone in my job should not be concerned with politics," Lee said.
"Although I do not understand why the KMT would do this to me, I will accept the party's decision. In any case, it will be easier for me to do my job properly if I do not belong to any political party," Lee said.
The US Department of State yesterday criticized Beijing over its misrepresentation of the US’ “one China” policy in the latest diplomatic salvo between the two countries over a bid by Taiwan to regain its observer status at the World Health Assembly, the decisionmaking body of the WHO. “The PRC [People’s Republic of China] continues to publicly misrepresent U.S. policy,” Department of State spokesman Ned Price wrote on Twitter. “The United States does not subscribe to the PRC’s ‘one China principle’ — we remain committed to our longstanding, bipartisan one China policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, Three Joint Communiques, and
FATES LINKED: The US president said that sanctions on Russia over Ukraine must exact a ‘long-term price,’ because otherwise ‘what signal does that send to China?’ US President Joe Biden yesterday vowed that US forces would defend Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack in his strongest statement to date on the issue. Beijing is already “flirting with danger,” Biden said following talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, in which the pair agreed to monitor Chinese naval activity and joint Chinese-Russian exercises. Asked if Washington was willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan, he replied: “Yes.” “That’s the commitment we made,” Biden said. “We agreed with the ‘one China’ policy, we signed on to it ... but the idea that it can be
INFORMATION LEAKED: Documents from Xinjiang purportedly showed top leaders in Beijing calling for a forceful crackdown and even orders to shoot to kill Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday held a videoconference with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet as she visited Xinjiang during a mission overshadowed by fresh allegations of Uighur abuses and fears she is being used as a public relations tool. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been accused of detaining more than 1 million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in the region as part of a years-long crackdown the US and lawmakers in other Western nations have labeled a “genocide.” China denies the allegations. Bachelet was expected to visit the cities of Urumqi and Kashgar on a six-day tour. The US
SUBTLE? While Biden said the US policy of ‘strategic ambiguity’ on Taiwan had not changed, the group targeted China and Russia without naming them Leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the US yesterday warned against attempts to “change the status quo by force,” as concerns grow about whether China could invade Taiwan. The issue of Taiwan loomed over a leadership meeting in Tokyo of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) nations — the US, Japan, Australia and India — who stressed their determination to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region in the face of an increasingly assertive China, although Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the group was not targeting any one country. The four leaders said in a joint statement issued after their talks
RSS