The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central Standing Committee on Wednesday passed a special resolution to allow people who have left or were kicked out of the party to rejoin before Feb. 17.
Applicants whose party membership has been revoked would not have to pay the previously required four years of party membership fees and could simply pay a one-time fee of NT$300, the KMT said.
Those who left the party voluntarily can apply to rejoin if it has been two years since their departure, the resolution said.
Those who had their party membership revoked for minor infractions of party rules, such as failure to pay dues, can apply to rejoin if it has been more than one-and-a-half years since they left, while those who lost their membership for more serious contraventions would only be allowed to reapply if three years have passed, it said.
People who rejoin the party through the resolution can register for party primaries and run for party committee posts six months after regaining their membership, it added.
A source in the party yesterday refuted reports that independent Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) had applied to rejoin the KMT.
Fu has not yet applied, the source said, adding that Fu was eligible to rejoin should he wish to.
The KMT revoked Fu’s membership in 2009 after he announced his intent to run for Hualien county commissioner on the KMT ticket without the party’s endorsement.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) on Wednesday said the resolution sought to bolster the party and solidarity within the KMT, adding that it was not intended to meet any one person’s needs.
Former KMT Central Disciplinary Committee members Wei Ping-cheng (魏平政) and Yen Ching-yuan (葉慶元) yesterday issued a joint statement opposing the resolution, saying that it bypasses the disciplinary committee.
The statement called on Chu not to open the party’s doors to former troublemakers or those who have contravened party regulations, warning that it would lead to more party members ignoring the central party’s rulings and making their own decisions in elections.
The KMT must maintain solidarity, but it should do so by uniting under a common ideology and not for personal interest, it said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
RSS