With the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) scheduled to hold its chairperson by-election tomorrow, party hard-liners expressed concern over select candidates’ call to adjust the party’s cross-strait policy following its massive defeat in the Jan. 11 presidential and legislative elections.
Former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), who represents the party’s younger generation, are deliberately avoiding or obfuscating the issue about cross-strait relations, former KMT chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said in a press release yesterday.
The party’s core values — to uphold the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution and embrace the spirit of the Three Principles of the People (三民主義 ) — must not change, she said.
Hung said that her addition of the clause — “Based on the ROC Constitution and furthering the ‘1992 consensus,’ [the KMT is] to actively explore the possibility of terminating hostile relations across the Taiwan Strait by signing a peace accord” — in 2016, when she was chairwoman, is what people across the Strait need.
The so-called “1992 consensus” — a term that former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) urged party members not to vote in the by-election, saying that Hau’s and Chiang’s comments on cross-strait relations seem to favor severing ties with China.
The core of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) cross-strait policy is separation from China, which increases the risk of conflict and possibly a resumption of war, Chang said.
The KMT should stress that it is different from the DPP and that its cross-strait policy could bring about a peaceful resolution, he said.
Hau and Chiang are echoing the DPP’s statements and, in so doing, causing the KMT — and Taiwan — to lose whatever advantage it has in cross-strait relations, he said.
Hau said that his core values of defending the ROC and staunchly resisting Taiwanese independence are very clear, adding that they are the KMT’s core values, too.
He pledged that if elected, he would handle cross-strait issues according to such ideals.
Chiang said that telling members not to vote is stifling democracy within the party and preventing changes that the party needs, which in the end would hurt the party more than the candidates.
He urged members to turn out to vote and help the party embrace change.
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 High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀) has been sentenced to three years in prison, fined 50,000 yuan (US$6,890) in personal assets and deprived political rights for one year for “inciting secession” in China, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said today. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict on Feb. 17, Chen said. The trial was conducted lawfully, and in an open and fair manner, he said, adding that the verdict has since come into legal effect. The defendant reportedly admitted guilt and would appeal within the statutory appeal period, he said, adding that the defendant and his family have
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS