Independent presidential candidate James Soong (
Chung, who is of Hakka heritage, on Thursday announced his decision to resign his post and withdraw from the KMT.
Soong said he understood that Chung's remarks in his resignation statement reflected what was on many voters' minds.
In a written resignation statement, Chung said the KMT was "casting right and wrong aside" and characterized the presidential election as "just a prolonged battlefield in the KMT's internal power struggle.''
Soong echoed Chung's remarks by saying that some high-ranking KMT officials had cut themselves off from grassroots opinions.
"I have come to understand that the KMT is not only facing difficult challenges now, but that there is also a huge gap between top party officials and local communities,'' Soong said.
Using the issue of the preservation of Hakka culture as an example, Soong said that the KMT only speaks of the issue "reluctantly" and then only when election time approaches.
Soong said that while he did not have a chance to meet with Chung yesterday, he looks forward to working with him in the future.
Soong campaign officials said that if Chung joins their camp, they believe that Chung, Miaoli County Magistrate Fu Hsueh-peng (
According to government statistics, Hakkas account for around 12 percent of the 15 million eligible voters nationwide.
In related news, Soong visited several earthquake-stricken areas of Nantou County yesterday, where heavy rains have caused landslides and flooding.
He donated NT$100,000 to help local irrigation workers in Nantou County prepare for future rainstorms and proposed setting up a Cabinet-level special committee to handle recent storm-related problems and coordinate government functions.
"Although at the moment I don't have any official title and therefore cannot do very much to help in the relief efforts, I promise you I will offer you better treatment in the future,'' Soong said to those who have suffered from the recent storms.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
UNWAVERING: Paraguay remains steadfast in its support of Taiwan, but is facing growing pressure at home and abroad to switch recognition to Beijing, Pena said Paraguayan President Santiago Pena has pledged to continue enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, as he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait using force, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Kishida yesterday completed a trip to France, Brazil and Paraguay, his first visit to South America since taking office in 2021. After the Japanese leader and Pena spoke for more than an hour on Friday, exchanging views on the situation in East Asia in the face of China’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, they affirmed that “unilateral attempts to change the