The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) National Congress on Saturday passed a new policy platform titled “Defend Taiwan, Protect Democracy, Fight for the Future, Return to Power,” which covers issues ranging from climate change and animal protection to cross-strait relations.
While continuing the party’s previous stance of backing the so-called “1992 consensus,” which the KMT sees as “one China, different interpretations,” and opposing Beijing’s “one country, two systems,” as well as Taiwanese independence pursued in the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) charter, the new platform also includes KMT Chairman Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) proposal that both sides of the Taiwan Strait should seek common ground while respecting their differences.
This is a change from the KMT’s previous stance of “seeking common ground while allowing differences,” but the new platform is still against military threats or any unilateral actions that could affect peace between the two sides and the cross-strait “status quo.”
Chu, who was elected KMT chairman last month, said in a speech that the KMT would not let its guard down against efforts by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or the DPP to undermine the Republic of China Constitution, democracy, freedom and the rule of law.
Chu said the KMT is seeking victory in the four referendums to be held on Dec. 18, two of which were initiated by KMT lawmakers, and in the local elections next year, before building a successful campaign for the presidential elections in 2024.
The “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 CCP that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
During the meeting, Chu also named his three deputies — Chiayi Mayor Huang Ming-hui (黃敏惠), former Mainland Affairs Council minister Hsia Li-yan (夏立 言) and Sean Lien (連勝文), who lost the Taipei mayoral election in 2014 and is the son of former vice president Lien Chan (連戰).
The congress also approved the appointment of former Taitung county commissioner Justin Huang (黃健庭) as the party’s secretary-general.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
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