Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) heavyweights yesterday continued to exchange barbs over the moving forward of the party’s chairperson election by two months.
The KMT Central Standing Committee on Wednesday passed a motion to change the scheduled date for the chairperson election with fewer than 10 of the 40 committee members present, which was lower than the quorum of 20 for the meeting to be valid.
Unnamed sources said that at least 26 committee members were absent with the aim of boycotting the meeting.
Photo: CNA
Despite the party’s regulations of what constitutes a quorum, KMT headquarters said it was using a definition of a quorum provided by the Ministry of the Interior, that set the quorum as the total number of members minus those who called in sick or who were absent due to business.
It said that according to that definition, the quorum was met for the meeting to pass the motion.
KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who questioned the legitimacy of the meeting on Thursday, yesterday again called for a discussion about the election date at the committee’s meeting next week and said that party headquarters should allow the discussion with “sincerity and open-mindedness.”
Asked about committee member Yao Chiang-lin’s (姚江臨) protest about the validity of the meeting and his claim that he would take legal action against KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), Hau said he hoped that an internal discussion on reaching a consensus would take place first.
Former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), who has been widely tipped to run for chairman, also took issue with the decision, saying that not following the party’s rules would incur criticism and disapproval, which damages “the party’s image of solidarity.”
Committee member Sean Lien (連勝文), son of former party chairman Lien Chan (連戰), weighed in by criticizing KMT headquarters for “suppressing different opinions with force rather than undertaking communication and coordination.”
Sean Lien said he used to feel sorry for Hung, as he believed that she deserved an apology from the party when she was, using “questionable procedures,” replaced by then-KMT chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) as the party’s presidential candidate last year.
“But I was dumbfounded by the meeting on Wednesday. The forced change to the party’s rules by suppressing different opinions repeated itself, only now the past victim has become the new wielder of power,” he said.
In response to Sean Lien’s criticism, Hung said it was a “misunderstanding” and that she hopes those who hold positions on the committee would attend all its meetings to remain well-informed.
Hung said she was “very sorry to hear that” when asked about Yao’s plan to take legal action, adding that it was actually Yao who proposed moving the date of the election.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we