Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) has reiterated the KMT’s historically close ties with the US, saying that the party continues to fight against communism and compete with the Chinese Communist Party regarding values and political systems, the KMT said in a statement yesterday.
Chu, who is on an 11-day trip to the US, made the remarks during a visit to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in California on Thursday, and highlighted that the KMT and the US share memories of fighting side by side.
The US and China, which was ruled by the KMT at the time, were allies during World War II, and more than 250,000 US personnel served in what was known as the “China-Burma-India” theater.
Photo: CNA
The KMT has fought against communism for the past 100 years and in bloody battles to defend Taiwan, but is still willing to maintain exchanges with China’s private sector, Chu said.
While at the Hoover Institution, Chu met with US experts and academics, including political sociologist Larry Diamond and political scientist Kharis Templeman, discussing issues related to cross-strait security and relations.
The US academics raised concerns about Taiwan’s local government elections at the end of the year, to which Chu expressed cautious optimism, the KMT said in the statement.
In addition to controlling more than two-thirds of the counties and cities in Taiwan, the KMT would field outstanding candidates to challenge for the municipalities, counties and cities that it does not control, Chu said.
At a press event with Taiwanese media in Washington on Sunday, Chu said he would reopen the KMT’s representative office in the US after 14 years.
Chu said the KMT, Taiwan’s main opposition party since 2016, had not had a voice in Washington since the closure of its representative office, and the aim of reinstating it was to enable the US to better understand the party’s position and the different voices of Taiwan.
The chairman is to attend a plaque-unveiling ceremony to reopen the KMT’s liaison office in Washington tomorrow. The party closed it in 2008 shortly after the election of Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as president.
Asked if the move was in any way linked to him possibly running for the presidency in 2024, Chu rejected the idea, saying that it was part of his job as the party chairman to engage in party politics.
Reopening the office would also establish a communications channel with the US for future KMT presidential candidates, Chu added.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
RSS