Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: KMT/Facebook
THE KMT’S ANNUAL national congress was held earlier this week. This year’s congress, however, did not mark any significant developments or shifts in the party’s stances, seeing as this year is not an election year. As such, there were no new major proposals that were made during the congress.
During the congress, party chair Eric Chu reiterated the KMT’s opposition to Taiwanese independence, stating that the KMT would not tolerate Taiwanese independence forces. To this extent, Chu vowed to defend the ROC.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou, in turn, lashed out at what he framed as current president Lai Ching-te of the DPP’s “two nation theory” discourse of cross-strait relations. It has been a recurring theme of Ma to frame Lai’s stance on the ROC as a de facto view of Taiwanese independence, termed “two nation theory,” even if Lai has vowed to uphold the ROC and its institutions.
It appears to be Ma who largely sets the tone for the KMT’s cross-strait policy at present. In his comments, Chu praised Ma at length, stating that the 1992 Consensus and consensus between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits on the basis of One China was a breakthrough. Chu promised to further Ma’s cross-strait policy.
Ma Ying-jeou. Photo credit: Ma Ying-jeou/Facebook
At the same time, Chu played up his own achievements in trying to build ties with the US, Europe, Japan, and Singapore. Chu was historically viewed as comparatively moderate on cross-strait relations and even comparatively pro-American in the KMT. But in the present political atmosphere of the KMT, in which the KMT has shifted sharply to the deep blue end of the political spectrum, Chu now emphasizes adherence to the 1992 Consensus. Ma continues to exert significant influence on the KMT’s cross-strait stances, then.
Otherwise, much attention went to the absence of former Legislative Yuan majority speaker Wang Jinpyng from the proceedings. Wang was historically a rival of Ma’s, seeing as Wang was understood to be the leader of the comparatively pro-localization “Taiwanese faction” of the KMT, while Ma was seen as the leader of the establishment “Mainlander faction.”
It is rumored that Wang hopes to seek the party chairmanship in the next KMT chair election and that moves such as setting up a new cross-strait thinktank are intended to build up for this. Senior figures in the party, such as former chair Hung Hsiu-chu, have downplayed Wang’s absence, stating that Wang may have had other business and that he could still run for party chair.
On the other hand, it is generally expected that Eric Chu intends to seek reelection as party chair. Chu’s actions at the national congress are understood as seeking to maintain power. At the same time, there is speculation that Taichung mayor Lu Shiow-yen–a possible candidate for the KMT in the 2028 presidential elections–could also seek the party chair. There has also been speculation that Legislative Yuan president Han Kuo-yu may contend for party chair.
Still, at present, one of the dominant figures in the KMT is legislative caucus convener Fu Kun-chi. Fu is sometimes seen as having devised the KMT’s recent ploys to expand legislative power and reduce the power of other branches of government in Taiwan, leveraging on the KMT’s current slim majority in the Legislative Yuan.
Seeing as the national congress did not actually focus on the KMT’s recent moves aimed at fundamentally reshaping the balance of powers in Taiwan between the three major branches of government, it is expected that the KMT will stay the course even in the face of protest. Likewise, the current factional outlook of the KMT appears set to hold steady, at least until the nature of Wang Jinpyng’s challenge to the establishment becomes clearer.
It is to be expected that fractures in the party will become more visible when the KMT chair elections take place. It is still unclear as to the array of powers in the party, with Chu having made moves to reduce the power of the ideologically hardline Huang Fu-hsing branch of the KMT, consisting of veterans, earlier this year. But the fault lines will become clear in time.