Former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) was yesterday elected Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman in a four-way race that included outgoing chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣).
Chu, 60, garnered 85,164 votes, or 45 percent of the 187,998 KMT members who cast ballots. Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) trailed behind with 60,632 votes, followed by Chiang with 35,090 votes and former Changhua County commissioner Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源) with 5,133 votes. Voter turnout was 50.71 percent.
This will be Chu’s second time heading the party. He was elected KMT chairman in an unopposed by-election in January 2015 and resigned in January 2016 following the party’s losses in the presidential and legislative elections.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
In his victory speech yesterday, Chu said his election would be the start of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) worries.
“The KMT will unite in an unprecedented manner, and we will fight for the pan-blue camp’s decisive victory,” he said. “We will fight for people’s rights and resist the DPP’s overbearing and aggressive behavior.”
Asked by reporters what his approach would be to relations with China, Chu said the Taiwan-China relationship is “very important,” and that he would strive to open all channels of communication with China.
Photo: CNA
Chu also reiterated his intention to open a KMT representative office in the US.
Chu added he would travel across Taiwan to gather feedback on ways to improve the party from his supporters and detractors alike.
He would seek to restore confidence in the KMT and encourage involvement of young people in the party’s improvement, he said.
Following the election results yesterday evening, Chiang at the KMT headquarters in Taipei led party officials in resigning en masse and tasked KMT caucus secretary-general Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) with handling the handover of the party leadership to Chu.
Chiang said that despite his personal loss in the election, he felt the results to be demonstrative of a “democratic test for the party, which is a win for everyone.”
Chiang offered his congratulations to Chu and thanked the other two candidates for their participation in the election.
His next step would be to campaign across the nation to garner support for two referendums sponsored by the KMT that are to be put to a vote in December, he said, adding that he would also work to encourage more young people to participate in the party’s improvement.
Chang said the results were "very regretful," but that he also felt he had "taken the first step on the path toward rousing the party spirit."
"This is the foundation that will carry the party forward," he said. "We must persevere in carrying out Sun Yat-sen’s (孫逸仙) political ideology. Otherwise we can’t be called the KMT."
His second-place election result demonstrated party supporters’ affirmation of his ideals and behavior, he added.
The results of the chairperson election is to be delivered to the party’s decisionmaking Central Standing Committee for confirmation on Wednesday. Chu is to assume office at the KMT National Congress on Oct. 30.
DPP spokeswoman Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) congratulated Chu on his election win and said the DPP hoped Chu would work together with the administration in the spirit of public will and toward public benefit.
DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said that Chiang’s defeat in the election meant a rejection of his moderate leadership, while the rapid rise of Chang and his strong performance in the election meant growing support among KMT supporters for unification with China.
Although Chu won the election, the KMT would come under increasing pressure from unification supporters, he said.
Additional reporting by Chen Yun, Hsieh Chun-ling and CNA
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS