Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday announced his bid for the KMT chairmanship, saying he would endeavor to close the gap between the party and the people if elected.
“The disastrous defeat of the KMT in two elections in a row has unnerved its supporters. Many younger KMT members have proposed reform plans in the hopes of rebuilding and bettering the party,” Hau told an impromptu news conference in Taipei yesterday evening.
Hau said following the KMT’s loss in the 2014 nine-in-one elections, he had worked to rebuild the party’s brand and cultivate young talent in his capacity as the vice chairman — a position he held from April 2014 until Saturday, when he stepped down after failing to secure a legislative seat in Keelung.
Photo: CNA
Nevertheless, voters used their ballots to tell the KMT that the scope of its reforms were not extensive, efficient and good enough, Hau said, adding that the gap between the KMT leadership and its local branches also contributed to the party’s defeat.
“Other reasons include the KMT’s failure to be in sync with people’s needs and volatile social trends. From 7.65 million votes in the 2008 presidential race to 3.81 million votes last weekend, the party has lost more than 3 million votes in the past few weeks,” the former Taipei Mayor said.
“We must act fast to regain those ‘vanishing votes’ before they are gone forever,” he said.
Asked whether he regarded himself as a better fit for the party’s chairmanship than Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who entered the by-election for the KMT leadership on Wednesday, Hau said they sought different paths for the party in terms of cross-strait ties, without elaborating.
Hau said he only publicly endorsed Hung she was later replaced by former KMT chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) as the KMT’s presidential candidate in October last year out of respect for the party’s democratic primary mechanism.
With regard to Vice President Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) reported interest in entering the by-election, Hau said Wu had a better grasp of Taiwan’s local conditions, particularly in central and southern parts of the nation.
“If Vice President Wu is able to convince me that the path he envisions for the KMT is better than mine, then I am willing to give him my support in the March 26 election,” Hau said.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
RSS