Despite being able to make the KMT feel proud about losing last December's Kaohsiung mayoral election, KMT Legislator James Chen (
Chen tendered his resignation after blue-camp councilors voted scandal-ridden independent councilor Chu An-hsiung (
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
"I offered to resign because, as the head of the party's Organization and Development Committee, I need to take responsibility for problems that damaged the image of the party," Chen said.
Despite his notorious reputation, Chu won the speakership with 25 votes. It is believed 11 of 12 KMT councilors, six out of seven PFP councilors and eight out of nine independents voted for Chu.
Prosecutors have confirmed that several Kaohsiung city councilors have turned themselves in and admitted to receiving bribes from Chu.
Chen said he is sorry to see such an outcome, adding that he failed to carry through the party headquarters' order that KMT councilors not vote for Chu.
"The job of the Organization and Development Committee is to take charge of all issues relating to the party's electoral campaign," Chen said. "I ought to take on all responsibility for any unfavorable and undesirable electoral outcome or mistakes resulting from [the committee's] campaign strategies."
KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (
Saying that James Chen's resignation was a natural way to demonstrate his responsibility, KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (
"Aside from being in charge of the party's electoral campaign work, another job of the committee is to recruit new members to the party," Apollo Chen said. "I think it would help the party if the head of the committee had a clean image and didn't remind the public of the KMT's old unpleasant image."
While lauding James Chen's rich campaign experience, Apollo Chen said that such a background can sometimes work against the head of the Organization and Development Committee.
"Given James Chen's decades-long career as a public servant, he has come to learn a lot about under-the-table deals, which then remind the public of the KMT's old unpleasant image," Apollo Chen said.
James Chen is a legislator-at-large and was also a Taipei City councilor for 29 years, during which he served as city council speaker and vice speaker.
James Chen was well-known for his attacks on Chen Shui-bian (
James Chen had also served as the director of Lien's Taipei campaign office when Lien was running in the 2000 presidential election.
In the Kaohsiung mayoral race, Chen insisted on supporting the KMT's Huang Jun-ying (黃俊英), despite the party's plan to dump Huang in favor of independent Chang Po-ya (張博雅). The party decided to stick with Huang and, despite losing to the race to the DPP's Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), felt proud of the result.
Huang, secured 47 percent of the vote, while Hsieh won 50 percent.
Chen said that it was for the sake of the KMT that he accepted the job as head of the Organization and Development Committee.
He said his resignation stems from that same concern.
"If my resignation can increase KMT party members' trust in the party, then I believe my resignation is in some way a contribution to the party as well," Chen said.
Chen remains a member of the party's Central Standing Committee, its highest decision-making body.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS