A former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member, who was sacked in June for his outspokenness, has confirmed plans to join a committee investigating the party’s illegal assets, drawing fire from KMT members.
Committee of Illegal Party Asset Settlement chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) on Thursday said that he consulted with former KMT spokesman Yang Wei-chung (楊偉中) last week and invited him to join the committee.
Koo said that Yang immediately agreed, saying that he has always advocated honest handling of the KMT party assets issue, but had no way to push for reform from within the party.
Yang confirmed the meeting with Koo and expressed his desire to promote the handling of the KMT’s assets and other transitional justice measures.
Koo said that the committee would draw upon Yang’s experience as a former KMT member to balance the committee’s efforts.
Koo has also met with New Power Party members and is expected to release a complete list of committee members next week.
Answering reporters’ questions yesterday morning, Yang said that proper handling of the party assets issue requires “stepping outside of blue and green party biases.”
His comments were echoed by Koo.
“This should not be a battle of parties trying to settle accounts with each other,” Koo said, adding that the committee’s efforts are supported by most of the public.
When asked if his own salary as a former KMT member should be surrendered, Yang said: “Measures will be executed according to the decisions of the committee. Naturally, individuals and groups associated with the party will not be exempted.”
KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy
director-general Hu Wen-chi (胡文琦) lambasted Yang for being “the sword and hired thug of the Democratic Progressive Party in their battle against the KMT” and said that the decision to expel Yang from the party was sagacious.
Addressing Yang, Hu said: “I hope [you] will maintain a good conscience, discuss things as they are and get to know the KMT anew.”
Hu said that Yang was announcing his plans to resign before the presidential elections were concluded earlier this year and that he later began making incessant attacks against the KMT, making him intolerable among party constituents.
Yang’s decision to approach the Taiwan Solidarity Union and his public support for Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are evidence of his early intentions of joining the pan-green camp, Hu said.
“It is not the least bit surprising for the KMT that Yang wants to join the Committee of Illegal Party Asset Settlement,” he said.
The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said. Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said. The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
FLU CONTINUES: Hospitals reported 101,091 visits for flu-like illnesses last week, while 68 severe cases and 16 flu-related deaths were also reported, the CDC said The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported 932 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and 64 related deaths for last week, adding that the number of people who had contracted new SARS-CoV-2 subvariants KP.2 and LB.1 has increased. The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 increased from 815 in the previous week to 932 last week, while 90 percent of the 64 deceased were aged 65 or older, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. JN.1 was still the dominant variant among local and imported cases in the past four weeks, while KP.2 was the second-most common, Lin said. Cases with the LB.1 subvariant
Beijing’s recent provocative actions against the Philippines in the South China Sea were partly meant as a “dress rehearsal” for the invasion of Taiwan, former US deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger said at a Heritage Foundation forum in Washington on Tuesday. Beijing’s blocking of a Philippine resupply mission on June 17 with unprecedented violence had multiple implications. “What they’re doing is trying to demonstrate that they can blockade, create a sense of futility and discredit the idea that the United States is going to help not only the Philippines, but by extension Taiwan,” Pottinger said. Pottinger was referring to a clash