Taipei Times
Date: Jan 12, 2017
By: Shih Hsiao-kuang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

All three candidates running in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) chairperson election yesterday denied having recruited “dummy members,” following reports that KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) brought in nearly 40,000 new members after assuming the leadership post in March last year to boost her chances of winning the vote.

The Chinese-language Want Weekly magazine on Tuesday quoted a KMT lawmaker, who requested anonymity, as saying that Hung has endeavored to recruit new members since becoming chairwoman and has so far drawn more than 40,000 new members, while one of the challengers for the position, former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), has also been encouraging supporters to join the KMT.

The competition between Hung, Wu and KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) has been fierce, despite the three putting on a friendly face in public, the report said.

There have been rumors in central and southern Taiwan that the number of applications for KMT membership has greatly increased, it added.    [FULL  STORY]