Changing the name of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is not on its agenda, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday, after comments by KMT legislative caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) prompted discussion of the topic.
In response to media queries, Chiang said a name change is not the focus of the party’s reform efforts at this stage and that the party should instead be concerned with matters pertaining to people’s daily lives.
Chiang’s remarks followed a Facebook post Lin made on Saturday in which he asked whether the word Zhongguo (中國) should be removed from the full name of the KMT.
Photo: Ou Su-mei, Taipei Times
While the word refers to the Republic of China, it is “easily confused with the People’s Republic of China,” Lin wrote.
“The first step of KMT reform: There are no issues that cannot be talked about or discussed,” he wrote, adding that only by embracing diversity and facing problems pragmatically could there be “valuable answers.”
Lin wrote that he wanted to “listen to everyone’s opinions.”
The KMT in a statement yesterday said that Chiang had already made a “clear stand” on the issue of a name change before being elected party chairman earlier this year.
The statement quoted Chiang as saying at the time that the focus of the party’s review should be on the manner and content of its discourse, instead of its name.
This stance has not changed, the KMT said, adding that discussion of a name change has never been included on the agendas of the party’s reform committee or its National Congress, which convened on Sept. 6.
Suggestions related to a name change from party members show that no topic is closed to discussion within the KMT, it said.
The KMT “firmly believes that reform is the focus, rather than a name change,” it said.
The focus of the KMT’s political task is on issues involving people’s daily lives, such as food safety, and the protection of their civil rights, such as the right to hold a referendum, it said.
Asked about the issue, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of the KMT said the party’s “most urgent” task is to continue to reform and change, and to “always stand with people.”
“Reform is more important than anything,” he said, adding that change should “start from within.”
Additional reporting by CNA
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