Senior officials of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday voiced support for Chairman Lien Chan's (
"We must at this time stand behind Lien. We must support Lien in his decision," said KMT Vice Chairman Vincent Siew (
It is customary in Taiwan's politics that party leaders resign following their party's defeat in major elections, as a gesture of taking responsibility for the loss.
But given that Lien has refused to concede defeat to President Chen Shui-bian (
"Lien's leadership should be maintained at this moment. We should not complicate the current situation further and make it more chaotic," said KMT Legislator John Chang (
Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Wang also took the opportunity to dismiss speculation that the pro-localization faction within the party would split from the KMT following the failure of Lien's second bid for the presidency.
"Why split when it is time we need more than ever to stay united," Wang told reporters before the committee meeting.
He is seen by many pan-blue supporters as the key representative of the pro-localization faction.
"Everyone must be loyal to the party," he said. "If it is within everyone's heart to be loyal and love the party, then we must more than ever unite at time like this. Any effort to split or drive a wedge would only harm the party."
Stressing that the pro-localization faction would not defect, KMT Legislator Hsu Chong-hsiung (徐中雄), a committee member known for his pro-localization image, also said the party must strengthen its pro-localization image in order to stay competitive.
In view of the year-end legislative election, Hu also suggested that the KMT, the People First Party and the New Party should merge.
"The opposition alliance can not afford to remain divided," Hsu said.
His call was echoed by other Central Standing Committee mem-bers including Chang and KMT Legislator Hou Tsai-feng (侯彩鳳).
Meanwhile, the KMT is mulling the idea of staging protests in different parts of the country after its march in Taipei on Saturday to emphasize their appeal for an immediate recount of the vote.
A crowd of pan-blue supporters has been demonstrating in front of the Presidential Office to demand a recount since before dawn on Sunday morning.
The protesters support the KMT-PFP alliance's claims that the election was unfair and the assassination attempt was suspicious.
The protesters have permission from the Taipei City Government to continue their demonstration on Katagalan Boulevard till 10pm Saturday.
"Whether or not to disband the protesting crowd in front of the Presidential Office will be decided based on how the government responds [to our appeals,]" said KMT spokesman Alex Tsai (蔡正元).
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
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