GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION?Lo Cheng-tsung of the Zero Party Asset Alliance said that organizations affiliated with the KMT should be pursued in the same manner as the party

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 11, 2016
By: Aaron Tu / Staff Reporter

President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should make a pledge to show her

incoming administration’s determination to address the issue of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) ill-gotten party assets, academics said yesterday.

Critics have labeled the KMT’s assets “ill-gotten” because the party took them from the Japanese colonial government, private businesses and individuals when it took control of Taiwan in the late 1940s.

Despite several bills proposed at the legislature on “ill-gotten party assets,” academics said they are worried about the actual result of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) campaign to pursue the matter, as the issue is politically sensitive and highly polarized.

Lo Cheng-tsung (羅承宗) of the Zero Party Asset Alliance said the incoming Tsai administration does not have to wait until the legislation is passed to pursue the KMT’s illegitimate party assets.     [FULL  STORY]

PROMOTING NEUTRALITY:The charter was changed to remove a requirement for certain government officials to also serve on the party’s Central Standing Committee

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 10, 2016
By: Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday amended its charter to

exempt certain high-ranking government officials from serving in party positions, while amending the party’s Regulations on Clean Politics to penalize party members who fail to avoid conflicts of interest.

“The public might not know why we are holding an irregula national congress to revise our party charter,” president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said.

“According to the DPP’s original charter, certain government officials are also required to serve as the party’s Central Standing Committee [CSC] members,” she said. “Such a rule was meaningful in the past, but we must reform it under the current situation.”

Tsai said that the DPP would look for talented people across party lines who share similar ideologies with the DPP to serve in the new government.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-08
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Premier Simon Chang received the visit Friday afternoon from his successor, former Finance Minister Lin Chuan, as part of the transition process.

Lin will take office on May 20, the same day as the inauguration of Democratic Progressive Party Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen as president. Tsai met with incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou on March 30.

At the start of Friday’s meeting, Chang and Lin shook hands for the cameras. The current premier warned his successor that the job would be tough, but he added he was confident that thanks to his ability, he would be able to solve problems without trouble. Chang said he would return to normal civilian life after May 20, and he wished Lin good luck.     [FULL  STORY]

A HIGHER CAUSE:Pardoning the ill former president would help achieve social harmony and be conducive to Taiwan’s development, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 09, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

The Presidential Office has rejected a renewed call from local governments

to pardon former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), saying there are still ongoing criminal cases involving Chen.

“Presidential pardon is an issue that will only be considered after a final verdict has been reached. However, a number of criminal cases against Chen are still going on,” the Presidential Office said in a statement released yesterday.
The office issued the statement shortly after the Kaohsiung City Council passed a motion proposed by the council’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus urging President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to grant a pardon to Chen before his term ends on May 20, which it said could facilitate rapprochement between the pan-blue and pan-green camps.

The motion was signed by 39 city councilors, four of whom are not members of the DPP.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/05
By: Claudia Liu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, April 5 (CNA) The Kuomintang (KMT) announced Tuesday the appointments of

seven new deputy secretaries-general in its first round of personnel arrangements after former Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) was elected to head the party March 26.

The seven newly appointed deputy secretaries-general include former Legislator Lin Kuo-cheng (林國正), former Pingtung Mayor Yeh Shou-shan (葉壽山), former Taitung County Council Speaker April Yao (饒慶鈴), and former Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔).

The three other new deputy secretaries-general are Chiayi City Council Speaker Hsiao Shu-li (蕭淑麗), KMT legislative caucus whip Lin Te-fu (林德福) and National Development Council special assistant Chang Ya-ping (張雅屏). Chang was also appointed as the head of the KMT Organization and Development Committee.

In addition, Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) will serve as KMT spokeswoman and deputy director of the KMT Culture and Communication Committee, while Cheng Hang-sheng (陳杭升), the former head of the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Government Ethics Department, will serve as the personnel chief of the KMT’s Administration Management Committee.     [FULL  STORY]

ASSETS DONATION:Former secretary-general Lee Shu-chuan said the KMT’s assets have been a constant source of criticism and a ‘cash machine’ for the opposition

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 04, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) should abrogate the party’s annual forum with the

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and donate all party assets except for those that it legally acquired, former KMT secretary-general Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) said in a party reform proposal.

Lee compiled the report after 21 forums with the KMT’s local cadres and campaign staff across the nation from Feb. 19 to March 23, following the party’s landslide defeats in the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections.

Nominated as secretary-general in January last year by then-KMT chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), Lee submitted the report to newly sworn-in KMT Chairperson Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) before his term ended late last month.

The report listed 14 reasons presented at the forums for the KMT’s electoral failure, including the party’s controversial assets, which it said have been a constant target of and a “cash machine” for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).     [FULL STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: , Mar 31, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) is reportedly planning

to expel former KMT spokesperson Yang Wei-chung (楊偉中) and appoint former KMT legislators Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) and Chiu Yi (邱毅) to crucial party positions.

It was reported by Chinese-language magazine the Journalist that while Hung is prepared to make some compromises on her cross-strait stance, she plans to implement some controversial personnel changes.

The magazine said Hung would be a weak chairperson, considering that she was elected with the lowest percentage of votes obtained in a KMT chairperson election — with the lowest voter turnout rate.

The low turnout rate shows that many members are pessimistic about the party’s future, the article said, citing an anonymous high-level party official as saying that the apathy of party members is the greatest threat facing the KMT.     [FULL  STORY]

AD HOMINEM:KMT Legislator Alicia Wang said that the amendments improperly targeted President Ma and went against president-elect Tsai’s calls for bipartisanship

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 28, 2016
By: Chang Hsiao-ti and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators have proposed amendments to the Act

Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to require former presidents and vice presidents to obtain official approval from the sitting president prior to visiting China.

The amendments were proposed by DPP legislators Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) and Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃).

According to the act, all politically appointed former officials with access to national security information are required to obtain approval from the Ministry of the Interior before visiting China in the first three years after their retirement, Lo said.

However, former presidents and vice presidents, who have superiority access to sensitive information, are exempt from the requirements, and “this gap in Taiwan’s national security makes the amendment necessary,” he said.     [FULL  STORY]