Former premier Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) yesterday said it is not defeatist to ask fellow Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members to put more effort into the party and be more vigilant as the KMT is feeling more pressure than usual regarding the seven-in-one elections on Nov. 27.
Hau’s remarks were the second in as many days that he spoke on the topic, in an apparent defense of his son, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who last week was accused of “defeatism” by KMT members for saying that “someone should be held accountable if the party loses the elections.”
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is also KMT chairman, warned against such comments, saying that people uttering words of no help to party solidarity should know their limits.
Photo: CNA
The 95-year-old former premier attempted to vindicate Hau Lung-bin’s comment in his speech at a Lunar New Year event held by the New Revolutionary Alliance (新同盟會) at the Armed Forces Officer’s Club in Taipei.
Ma and Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) also made an appearance at the event, but Hau Pei-tsun did not come face-to-face with Ma as he arrived after the president had left the venue.
Defeatism is capitulationism and the latter is characterized by Wang Jing-wei (汪精衛), better than by any Taiwanese figure, Hau Pei-tsun said.
Wang Jing-wei, a KMT member, formed a Japanese-supported collaborationist government in 1940 in China, when that country was at war with Japan, and is seen as a traitor by both the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party.
Hau Pei-tsun said that as the year-end elections approach, many harbor concerns over the KMT’s electoral outlook.
Someone who utters a warning about a looming electoral crisis is simply trying to caution party members and urge them to stay vigilant.
“How in the world is that a defeatist stance? Those who said that have no idea what defeatism means,” he said.
The senior Hau added that he has no problem with people criticizing his son, but claiming that the Taipei mayor is a defeatist is an outright mistake, an unjust accusation and “ignorant and childish.”
“Defeatism is a question of right and wrong, not of a family or an individual,” Hau Pei-tsun said.
He added that this year is a crucial year for the KMT and it must win in the coming elections.
He said that those who love Taiwan have to love the Republic of China (ROC) and only those who love the ROC truly love Taiwan.
ROC nationals are Chinese and those claiming that Taiwanese are not Chinese are the unworthy descendants of Zhonghua minzu (中華民族, Chinese ethnic group), he said.
INCREASED RISK: The Omicron BA.2.75 subvariant has higher immune evasive capacity, but the CECC is more concerned about newer subvariants such as XBB and BQ.1 With the peak season for infectious respiratory diseases coming to an end, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that details of the next phase of lifting COVID-19 masking rules — removing the mask requirement in most indoor settings — are to be announced this week. Discussions on lifting other COVID-19 restrictions are also being held, including further easing border control measures, home isolation requirements and revising the definition for reporting cases, while also downgrading COVID-19 to a lower category of notifiable communicable disease, said Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC. As the daily
CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT: A new committee would investigate a backlog of US weapons sales to Taiwan, said its chairman, US Representative Mike Gallagher The US should formally recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, and end its outdated and counterproductive “one China” policy, US Representative Tom Tiffany and 18 other US lawmakers wrote in a petition. “It is time to change the status quo and recognize the reality denied by the US government for decades: Taiwan is an independent nation,” Tiffany told the Epoch Times. “As our long-standing and valued partner, correctly acknowledging their independence from communist China is long overdue.” The resolution also asks the administration of US President Joe Biden to support Taiwan’s membership in international organizations and to negotiate a bilateral free-trade
GUT FEELING: In the leaked memo, US Air Force General Mike Minihan urged mobile command personnel to go to a firing range, shoot at a target and ‘aim for the head’ A four-star US Air Force general has warned of a conflict with China as early as 2025 — most likely over Taiwan — and urged his commanders to push their units to achieve maximum operational battle readiness this year. In an internal memorandum that first emerged on social media on Friday, and was later confirmed as genuine by the Pentagon, Air Mobility Command Commander General Mike Minihan said that the main goal should be to deter “and, if required, defeat” China. “I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me we will fight in 2025,” Minihan said. Minihan said that Taiwan’s presidential election
DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM: Czech president-elect Petr Pavel said his nation stands firmly on the side of democracy and would boost cooperation with Taipei in all aspects Czech president-elect Petr Pavel spoke by telephone with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday, a highly unusual move given the lack of formal ties and a diplomatic coup for Taipei. Tsai spoke with Pavel for 15 minutes in a harmonious atmosphere, Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said, adding that Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) was also present during the conversation. Lin quoted Pavel as telling Tsai that Taiwan is a trustworthy partner, adding that the Czech Republic stands firmly on the side of democracy and supports Taiwan in maintaining a lively democratic system free from authoritarian coercion. The Czech Republic would
RSS