Politicians with close ties to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) announced yesterday the formation of a new political party that hopes to win as many as 40 seats in the year-end legislative elections.
Former interior minister Huang Chu-wen (黃主文) unveiled the party's name, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (台灣團結聯盟), and the party's logo yesterday.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
"We've adopted the word solidarity because we believe that it is the most important thing that all Taiwanese currently expect," Huang said during yesterday's press conference.
Huang said the party would attempt to help the DPP bring stability to the legislature and put an end to the struggle between the opposition alliance and the government.
Accompanied by roughly 20 members who will represent the party in the legislative elections, Huang also unveiled the party's logo.
The emblem contains a brown-colored silhouette of Taiwan, symbolizing an earthy native focus. It is enclosed in a circle with a background of different shades of blue, which symbolizes the ocean.
"The logo means that Taiwan is just like the sun rising over the ocean," Huang said.
Lee, the former KMT chairman, has repeatedly criticized his party with being a sore loser after last year's presidential elections, saying the party should not purposely block President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) policies in the legislature.
According to Huang, Lee authorized him to form a new party to contest the year-end election and cooperate with the DPP after the election.
The party will hold a founding ceremony on Aug. 12 and announce a slate of legislative candidates later that day.
Lo Chih-ming (
Former KMT National Assembly delegate Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘), who will also represent the party in the elections, said that they will invite Lee and President Chen to jointly attend the Aug. 12 founding ceremony.
"The Taiwan Solidarity Union will loyally advocate former president Lee's ideals and continue to implement his guidelines, like continuing to maintain the former KMT administration's `no haste, be patient' policy in handling cross-strait investment," Chen said.
The idea that relations between Taiwan and China are "special state-to-state" in nature will also be a part of the party's platform.
While there have been recent threats to have Lee removed from the KMT for his support of the newly formed party, the KMT has thus far hesitated in confronting its former chairman.
Last month, old guard party member Liang Su-yung (
Chen Kang-ching (陳庚金), chief of the KMT disciplinary division, recently said "the department will approach the matter according to due process," implying it would not take action. He noted that it was for the party's administrative and management committee to decide whether Lee had indeed misused KMT funds, and for the organization section to determine whether Lee had in any way double-crossed the party.
In several recent interviews, Lee has blamed the 107-year-old party for its increasing drift toward China.
"No rules bar members from criticizing the party," said the KMT official, noting that the practice is rather common even among KMT stalwarts.
Still, the party is set to punish members who seriously harm the party's reputation and who endanger the party's existence. By that standard, those who join the Taiwan Solidarity Union will be deprived of their membership once the new political party formally registers with the Ministry of the Interior.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS