Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) yesterday echoed a call made by younger KMT members to drop the word “Chinese” from the party’s name.
Lu, who also doubles as a party Central Standing Committee member, said on Facebook that the KMT could have to “scrap the whole thing and restart from nothing” in order to “rise from its ashes.”
“The KMT has seen yet another rout in the Jan. 16 elections after a major defeat in the 2014 nine-in-one local elections. If the KMT does not undertake thorough party reforms and restructuring, and continues to play its ‘court politics,’ [last Saturday’s] avalanche-like defeat would not be the last the KMT would face,” Lu said.
The party mechanism of the 100-year-old party is out of date, failing the expectations of new politics and younger people, he said.
“Even the party name, Zhongguo Kuomintang (中國國民黨), is a contrast to what we are seeing in the society: The rise of local consciousness and the adversity against China,” he said.
“The KMT’s name is not unchangeable. From the Society for Regenerating China (興中會) in 1894, the Tungmenghui (同盟會) in 1905, the Kuomingtang in 1912, the Chunghwa Revolutionary Party in 1914 to finally the Zhongguo Kuomingtang [Chinese Nationalist Party] in 1919, the party has gone through four name changes,” Lu said.
A name change by dropping the word “Chinese” could therefore be a right move for the party to answer the calls for localization, he said.
The legislator also called for accustoming the party’s central beliefs and core values to the new era and the younger generation, streamlining the party’s internal structures, which have been the cause for the party’s “bureaucratic culture,” and reorganizing the Huang Fu-hsing (黃復興) faction, which has been idiosyncratic and a “sub-party” in itself that resists unified directive from the party’s center, by merging it with other party chapters.
“The party also has to establish an institutionalized system for cultivating young members, rather than bowing to the interests of certain factions or families,” Lu said.
Regarding party assets, Lu suggested transferring part of the assets to the state for establishing a “national sovereign fund” that could help Taiwanese businesspeople carry out strategic plans around the globe.
Lu did not seek re-election in the legislative election on Saturday last week, as he had lost the party primary to Cheng Cheng-chien (鄭正鈐), who was defeated by Democratic Progressive Party’s Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in Hsinchu City.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not