The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is looking to refine and consolidate its stance on cross-strait, international and national security issues to help it win the 2024 presidential election in the wake of the party’s dominance in the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 26, a party source said.
The KMT will arrange a series of in-party discussions and seminars to consolidate its stance on the issues, with the process expected to be completed by March or April, the source said.
The discussions will focus on how cross-strait, national security and international affairs affect Taiwan the most, and allow the world to hear what the KMT has to say, they said.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) might launch tours of the US, Japan, Europe and Southeast Asia throughout next year, they said.
The party is also likely to send a vice chairperson to lead a delegation to China, the source said.
The plans are in line with Chu’s pro-US policy while remaining friendly with China and maintaining ties with Japan, they said.
The tours would also be aimed at reaching overseas compatriots and businesspeople who anticipate that the KMT will win in 2024, they said.
Moreover, KMT lawmakers on the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee are planning to visit the Thailand-Myanmar-Laos border region to arrange for the transfer of 50,000 deceased soldiers to be interred at the National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山), the source added.
Divisions of the Republic of China Army retreated to the region after the Yunnan Provincial Government in 1949 declared its allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party.
Some troops stayed behind, despite two efforts to evacuate them to Taiwan.
They were granted residency rights by then-Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej to reside in the Chiangmai region of Thailand after helping the Thai government in its domestic fight against communist forces.
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