KMT headquarters yesterday lashed out at President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for what it called an attempt to replace the National Unification Council (NUC, 國統會) with the new cross-strait task force.
In a statement from the party's mainland operations department, the KMT described the new task force as "redundant" and said it was destabilizing cross-strait relations. The statement also accused Chen of trying to undermine the NUC.
Su Chi (
"If unification is the only goal ... and no other choice, is this real democracy?" Chen asked reporters on Aug. 17.
The NUC was created by the KMT government in 1990 with the purpose of bringing about unification. Opposition parties have been pressuring Chen to take up the post of NUC chairman, but Chen has so far refused to clarify his position on the issue. If Chen takes up the post he could face punishment from his own party, the DPP.
The new task force, led by Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), is set to hold its first meeting on Sept. 2.
The New Party has agreed to participate in the task force but the KMT and the PFP have rejected it.
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
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