Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials yesterday struggled to clarify claims of alleged power struggles within the party revealed by US diplomatic cables recently released by WikiLeaks.
New Taipei City (新北市) Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), whose conversations with then-American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) director Stephen Young in 2008 and 2009 on struggles between figures within the KMT has caused a political storm, yesterday again denied making the comments, saying that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) trusted him to be cautious when addressing sensitive issues.
“This is an unexpected disaster, but I will face it with courage ... I believe the content of the cables were the personal interpretations of Stephen Young, which are distorted and inaccurate,” he said yesterday after attending a city cooperation event at Taipei City Hall.
Photo: CNA
According to the cables, Chu, a KMT vice chairman at the time, told Young Ma was not as naive as former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) when handling cross-strait relations, adding that Ma was trying to ease out the party’s “old guard,” including Lien and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
The cable also said Chu told Young shortly after Ma assumed the presidency in 2008 that Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) had recommended that then-premier Liu Chao-shuan (劉兆玄) form the Cabinet in order to thwart Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung’s (江丙坤) attempt to take over as premier, the cables said.
In the cables, Chu said that prior to the presidential election in 2008, Wang had invited him to serve as his running mate after a fortunteller told Wang that he would become the party’s presidential nominee because Ma would be forced to withdraw from the race after being indicted on charges of alleged misuse of his special allowance.
Siew yesterday dismissed the content of the leaked cables, saying that as a long-time friend and colleague of more than 30 years, he would never try to ruin Chiang’s chances of serving as premier.
Wang yesterday also denied the claims and dismissed another leaked US cable pertaining to his criticism of Ma.
A cable dated Feb. 14, 2007, said Wang told Young that Ma’s presidential chances “were finished” following his indictment in a special allowance corruption case, and that the KMT would select a new presidential candidate.
While expressing his intention to replace Ma as the party’s presidential nominee, Wang criticized Ma as a “poor and ineffective leader.”
Wang also described Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) as “too corrupt,” and Chiang as too powerless when discussing their presidential chances.
Wu yesterday said it was “impossible” for Wang to make such comments, adding that Young might have misunderstand Wang’s remarks.
“Maybe he heard it wrong because he is a foreigner. Maybe he didn’t hear it clearly,” he said.
Amid the rows sparked by the leaked cables, Chu yesterday dismissed concerns about his political future as a promising star in the KMT and a possible presidential candidate in 2016.
“Everyone [in the KMT] still has confidence in me,” he said.
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address