Amid growing criticism from the public and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday jumped to defend KMT Chairman Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) decision to run for president without resigning as New Taipei City mayor.
KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) yesterday shared two pictures on Facebook detailing the names of DPP members and overseas politicians who have run for new positions without resigning their current seats.
“Politicians running for new positions without quitting their current posts is common practice around the world, and has been seen in the US, France and South Korea,” Tsai said in one of the pictures, citing US President Barack Obama, US Secretary of State John Kerry, former French president Jacques Chirac and South Korean President Park Geun-hye as examples.
In another picture, Tsai accused the DPP of pointing one finger to accuse while forgetting that four of its fingers are pointing at itself, saying 33 DPP members who have done the same as Chu since 1997, including former DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) and former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮).
“So, DPP members can run for new posts while clinging to their current offices, but KMT members cannot?” Tsai asked.
KMT Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said that if the New Taipei City Council’s DPP caucus intended to launch an impeachment drive against Chu, maybe it should also do the same to four of his peers who were running for legislator seats despite being elected city councilors just 10 months ago.
“Many DPP members have also made the same choice as Chu. For example, Lu remained in her post as then-Taoyuan County commissioner when competing for the vice presidency in 2000,” Lu said.
Lu was referring to an online impeachment motion put forward by New Taipei City councilor Ho Po-wen (何博文) of the DPP shortly after Chu revealed yesterday morning that he would not step down as mayor and was to take a three-month leave of absence to focus on his presidential campaign.
Lu’s colleague, Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆), said it was unfair for the DPP to be too critical of the KMT on this issue, given that there have been many similar cases involving the party’s city mayors, county commissioners, lawmakers and city councilors.
KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) accused the DPP of double standards.
“Politicians running for new posts without resigning from their current positions is commonplace both overseas and at home. Former US presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were both governors when they ran for president,” Lin said.
It must be concluded from the regularity of the practice in democratic countries worldwide that it does not inherently raise issues, but is more a question of whether voters believe in a candidate’s ability to steer the country in the right direction, Lin said.
The DPP’s criticism of Chu is hypocritical, Lin added, calling for a return from unfounded and malicious attacks against opponents to a rational debate over policies.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as