The KMT's acting chairman, Vice President Lien Chan (
Speaking to party members in Taoyuan County yesterday, Lien said the KMT would soon start a review of its organization, personnel and operations.
Lien took over as acting chairman after President Lee Teng-hui (
The vice president was upbeat in yesterday's speech, despite having finished a distant third in the election. He extolled the KMT's contributions to Taiwan's development, saying that the party had brought an economic miracle, not to mention democracy, to the country during its 54 years in power.
The party now urgently needs to reform to keep up with the changing times, Lien said, while confirming that a significant number of members would be disciplined in the wake of the election defeat.
The party's provincial office is set to submit to party headquarters tomorrow a list of members islandwide who violated party rules during the election.
The first wave of the planned purge will focus on county and city councilors and more senior party members.
Senior figures on the list reportedly include Taichung County council speaker Yen Ching-piao (
The second wave of expulsions is expected to seep quickly down to the township and grassroots levels.
According to a statement from the party's provincial office, the purge will be necessary "even if it leaves the party with only 500,000 members in the end."
The turmoil which has engulfed the party since its election defeat continues, meanwhile, to generate intense speculation in the media over who will step up to challenge for top leadership positions in the wake of Lee's departure.
Former Kaohsiung mayor Wu Dun-yi (
He was apparently referring to growing demands for direct election of the party chairman by the membership.
Wu was seen as one of the KMT's brightest young stars until losing the Kaohsiung mayorship to the DPP's Frank Hsieh in December, 1998.
He did not stump for any candidate during the election, despite earlier rumors that he was siding with independent candidate James Soong (
When asked if he would stay in the KMT and participate in party reforms, Wu said, "I won't touch this issue for now."
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
CHIPS AND DEFENSE: Trump said the US had lost its chip business and Taipei should pay it for defense, and added that ‘we’re no different than an insurance company’ Taiwan-US relations are solid, and both sides are in agreement that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region are everyone’s concern, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday following comments by former US president Donald Trump that Taiwan “should pay” for US defense. Taiwan is thankful to the US for supporting Taiwan’s bid to participate in international organizations, Cho told a news conference in Taipei. “I know the people very well, respect them greatly. They did take about 100 percent of our chip business,” Trump told Bloomberg on June 25 in an interview that was published on Tuesday. “I think
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Hsu Wen-erh (許汶而) on Friday became the first Taiwanese to swim solo across the English Channel, saying she was very happy to bring Taiwan to the world. Hsu completed the challenge in 12 hours, 17 minutes and eight seconds, after swimming across the Strait of Gibraltar in October last year. She said she had planned to swim the English Channel in August next year, but seized the opportunity when a vacancy became available on the waiting list. She went to the UK in May to train for a test that involves swimming for six hours at 16°C, which people who want to swim