Eric Chu

Is Eric Chu Increasingly Embattled in the KMT?

With KMT party primaries underway, all indications are that internal divides within the party continue to be strong. Namely, current KMT chair Eric Chu seems to be increasingly embattled, as facing challenges from within the party. This may be the result of the KMT’s current system in which the KMT chair cannot simultaneously serve as the party’s presidential candidate. But, despite that this is the case, it is often thought that Chu in fact harbors presidential ambitions, having served the KMT’s 2016 presidential candidate after he was swapped in to replace Hung Hsiu-chu...

Will Eric Chu Travel to the US?

It continues to be up in the air as to whether KMT chair Eric Chu will make a trip to the US. The KMT’s Department of International Affairs announced that Chu was planning to visit the US after the Lunar New Holiday in December. More recent announcements, however, have suggested that the trip is delayed...

Is the KMT Too Pro-independence for China?

In an unusual incident, Chinese state-run media has lashed out at KMT legislators Lin Wei-chou and Charles Chen as secretly being advocates of Taiwanese independence. In particular, it was claimed that Lin and Chen were part of a “covert” faction of Taiwanese independence advocates, distinguished from individuals openly supportive of Taiwanese independence...

Tsai Administration Lifts Food Ban from Japanese Prefectures Affected by the Fukushima Disaster

After months of speculation, the Tsai administration announced the lifting of a longstanding ban on food imports from the Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, and Chiba prefectures of Japan. The ban lasted for eleven years and was enacted after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, which took place after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, as the five provinces were affected by radiation from the ban...

Yen Kuan-heng Attacks Media Over Increased Scrutiny

Yen Kuan-heng, who is the KMT’s candidate for the by-election to fill the seat formerly occupied by Chen Po-wei of the Taiwan Statebuilding Party, has taken to alleging media bias against him. In particular, Yen filed forty-five complaints at the National Communications Commission alleging unfair media coverage that has disproportionately focused on him in national television networks...

Eric Chu Wins KMT Chair Race, With Chang Ya-Chung as Runner-up, Johnny Chiang Distant Third

Former New Taipei mayor and previous party chair Eric Chu was the winner of the KMT chair elections today. Chu was the clear winner, with 83,027 votes, or 45.96% of counted votes, at press time. However, what proves significant is that after Chu, Sun Yat-Sen School head Chang Ya-chung won the second highest number of votes, with 58,980 or 32.65% of votes. After Chang was current chair Johnny Chiang, who was running for re-election, with 33,604 or 18.6% of counted votes, and in last was former Changhua county magistrate Cho Po-yuan, with 5,037 votes, or 2.79%...