Former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday became the new Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman after securing more than 140,000 votes of the 272,682 cast in the election.
The KMT announced that Wu had garnered 144,408 votes, representing 52.24 percent of those cast, to win the six-way election.
Wu is to assume the position on Aug. 20 for a term of four years.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Outgoing KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), the runner-up, obtained 53,063 votes, followed by former KMT vice chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) with 44,301 votes.
Former KMT vice chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) had 12,332 votes, while former Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corp (台北農產公司) general manager Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and former KMT legislator Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛) obtained 16,141 votes and 2,437 votes respectively.
KMT headquarters said that voter turnout was 58.03 percent — a 1.71 percent increase compared with last year’s KMT chairperson election, which had a turnout of 56.34 percent, the lowest in the party’s history.
Yesterday’s election saw the lowest-ever voter turnout among 12,724 KMT members living overseas, with only 5,127 voting.
The party has a total of 476,147 members.
Hung led Wu in the overseas vote by a razor-thin margin by winning 2,323 votes, compared with Wu’s 2,069 votes, while Hau trailed in third with 409 votes.
Hau last night issued a statement conceding defeat and saying that he hopes the KMT would promote harmony among its members and that the party has a prosperous future.
Hung also conceded defeat last night, calling on party members to unit behind the new party chairman.
On Facebook, Chan issued a statement saying that “the members have voted” and that he would like to wish the party “all the best.”
Chan hinted that he is preparing his next career move in the KMT, saying that he would “see his supporters soon.”
Han thanked his supporters, and said that he had not fought hard enough in the campaign.
According to the KMT’s charter, if no single candidate obtains 50 percent of the votes, a run-off election would have to be held between the top two candidates. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman Chang Chih-hao (張志豪) congratulated Wu on behalf of the DPP, saying that the party hopes Wu would adopt a nonpartisan stance in his endeavors to help the nation bring about reform.
After his win, Wu declared in a speech that the KMT would adhere to the “1992 consensus” if it wins the 2020 national elections.
The “1992 consensus” refers to a supposed understanding reached during the cross-strait talks in 1992 that Beijing and the Chinese Nationalist Party acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what that means.
In 2006, former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted he made up the term “1992 consensus” in 2000, before the KMT handed power to the Democratic Progressive Party.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS