The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), in the runup to the 19th Central Standing Committee election on Sept. 7, is seeing a resurgence of local factions vying to get onto the committee in hopes of getting a better chance at influencing party politics in a post-President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) era.
Since the 2008 presidential election, the KMT under Ma has been slowly distancing itself from factions, which had been one of the primary reasons the KMT was equated with political corruption. The shift caused a rift between the party and local factions.
A source within the party said that of the 46 candidates nominated for the Central Standing Committee, 19 were from the former “60 alliance” that has been dominating the party’s Central Committee elections. The source added that if all 19 were elected, they would form a majority in the 32-person Central Standing Committee.
The “60 alliance” refers specifically to how six Central Committee candidates work together to gain votes, with each offering 10 party representative votes for their particular “group” — so managing to stay in the committee.
However, the source also said that since the Central Standing Committee seats were far fewer than those of the Central Committee — the Central Standing Committee annually has 32 seats up for grabs, with seven members appointed directly by the president to bring the total to 39, while the central committee offers 210 seats — the “60 alliance” has shrunk to become a “30 alliance.”
The smaller alliance consists of 30 people, including former “60 alliance” members and other Central Standing Committee candidates, the source said, adding that when working in three-man groups and with each individual responsible for procuring 10 representative votes, the smaller alliance could muster up to 300 votes in total.
One of the current Central Standing Committee members said that in comparison with past elections, next month’s election was being fiercely contested. The member added that some of the [candidates] have great [local] political clout, others are great at collecting votes and others had fat bank balances.
Some of the current committee members are feeling a lot of pressure, the member said.
Meanwhile, one of the local factions that is making the most overt moves is the Chang family (張) of Yunlin County.
Aside from the first-time Central Committee candidacy of former Yunlin County commissioner Chang Jung-wei’s (張榮味) daughter Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡), other pro-Chang candidates have also announced their candidacy in the upcoming election.
They are National Fishermen’s Association Taiwan general manager Lin Chi-chang’s (林啟滄) wife, Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄); Taiwan Joint Irrigation Association deputy chairman Lin Wen-jui (林文瑞) and Chinese National Association of General Contractors president Pan Chun-jung (潘俊榮).
The sources said all these candidates were elected Central Committee members with high numbers of votes and it would not be surprising if they were all elected into the central standing committee.
The source said that since Chang Jung-wei’s sister, Chang Li-shan (張麗善), dropped out of the Yunlin county commissioner election in 2009, the Chang faction had been gradually distancing itself from the KMT under Ma’s leadership.
The source said it suspected that with Chang Li-shan about to make a comeback in the seven-in-one elections next year, along with a power shift that is expected to occur in the 19th Central Standing Committee election, the Changs want to start paving their way toward the post-Ma political era.
Having won his second presidential election in January last year and following his re-election as party chairman on July 20, Ma’s political influence is generally considered to be on the wane, if not at rock bottom, due to low public support ratings. KMT members say that it is not impossible that Ma could step down as party chairman if the KMT loses the presidential election in 2016, or if the party does especially bad next year.
The seven-in-one elections are to be held for all directly elected local government positions: special municipality mayors and councilors; county commissioners or city mayors; county or city councilors; township chiefs and councilors; and borough wardens or village chiefs.
Sources also said that though Chang Chia-chun is a member of the current Central Standing Committee, she is there in her capacity as head of KMT Youth Affairs.
That she is aiming to become a full Central Standing Committee member is highly suggestive of her family’s political aspirations, the source said.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS