President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration yesterday came under criticism during the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) 19th Central Review Committee over its handling of the political crisis involving Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
The crisis arose from Ma’s attempt in September to remove Wang — both from the party and as speaker — after receiving information from Special Investigation Division (SID) Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) on Aug. 31 that Wang allegedly lobbied former minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫), High Prosecutors’ Office head prosecutor Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) and High Prosecutors’ Office prosecutor Lin Shiow-tao (林秀濤) not to appeal against the acquittal of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in a breach of trust case.
Chen Keng-chin (陳庚金), a heavyweight from Greater Taichung’s “Black” faction, told Ma during the meeting that the government’s “news releases were officious, flowery and impractical,” adding that his administration’s responses — when it responded at all — avoided the issues, were one-sided and tended to mask the severity of the problem.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Chen also said that Ma’s attempt to remove Wang from the party was not in accordance with protocol, adding that it raised doubts about how staff could act according to Ma’s professed core values of justice and equality.
Chen said that prior to the meeting, he had e-mailed an additional copy to KMT Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) as well as Ma himself, but he had not received a reply from either man, adding that the party’s higher-ups had also asked party heavyweights like Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) and Hsu Li-teh (徐立德) to talk to him in the hopes of “smoothing things out.”
Chen said that the party’s responses in either respect were “hard to accept.”
Former Taiwanese provincial governor Chao Shou-po (趙守博) also said that the Ma administration’s actions were very much like the Rectification Movement enacted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1942 to 1944, adding that all participants in the decisionmaking process in the party and administration needed to reflect on their actions and attitudes.
The Yanan Rectification Movement was the first ideological movement the CCP had enacted, cementing Mao Zedong’s (毛澤東) role in the party’s leadership, both politically and ideologically, through the removal of opponents and making Mao’s philosophies dominant.
In the face of Ma’s plummeting support and the popular practice of throwing shoes at the president, former minister of justice Hsiao Tien-tzang (蕭天讚) said the party should defend and support Ma.
Hsiao said that such acts should not be tolerated and should be dealt with using the full force of the law.
“We cannot allow such violent actions against the head of state that have begun recently to continue. While it is normally tolerable, it not only violates personal rights, but damages the respect the head of state, and the party chairman, should receive,” Hsiao said.
Hsiao also supported Ma’s actions during the “September strife,” saying that Ma had made a “clear and wise move” in the lobbying case.
Ma had chosen to tolerate criticism that he does not know right from wrong, but “too much tolerance will only be ridiculed as weakness and incompetence” and there should be limits to the tolerance the party shows, Hsiao said, adding that he was certain all who were present at the congress knew what he meant.
QUIET START: Nearly a week after applications opened, agencies did not announce or promote the program, nor did they explain how it differed from other visitor visas Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts. To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
UNITY MESSAGE: Rather than focusing on what Trump said on the campaign trail about Taiwan, Taipei should be willing to engage with the US, Pompeo said Taiwan plays a key role in Washington’s model of deterrence against China, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a speech in Taipei yesterday. During US president-elect Donald Trump’s first term, “we had developed what we believe was a pretty effective model of deterrence against adversaries who wanted to undermine the set of rules and values that the people of Taiwan and the people of the US hold dear,” Pompeo said at a forum organized by the Formosa Republican Association. “Succeeding in continuing to build this model will not solely rest at the feet of president Trump and his team,
RSS