China announced that it would be ending its ban on Taiwanese pomelos earlier this month. The ban had been in place since August 2022. Nevertheless, the Chinese government’s framing of the move indicates that the move is aimed at politically influencing Taiwan through economic means...
The DPP has stated that it will seek a constitutional interpretation against infrastructure bills that the KMT intends to push through with. The bills are primarily advanced under the auspices of KMT legislative caucus convener Fu Kun-chi, who has framed the bills as to benefit his home constituency of Hualien and areas of Taiwan’s east coast that have historically lacked resources compared to urban areas. This takes place in the same timeframe as the Executive Yuan calling for the Legislative Yuan to reconsider the legislative powers that the KMT is hoping to obtain, with the Executive Yuan framing them as unconstitutional, and the DPP also suggesting that it will seek constitutional interpretation...
KMT legislative caucus convener Fu Kun-chi returned yesterday from a trip to China. While the trip has mostly been described in terms of that Fu led the delegation, sixteen other KMT legislators traveled together with Fu. Consequently, close to 1/3rd of the KMT legislative caucus, which consists of 52 individuals, traveled to China with Fu...
A draft proposal by KMT caucus convener Fu Kun-chi has stoked controversy. Namely, the proposal would provide for the extension of high-speed rail around all of Taiwan, though this is attached to a proposal ostensibly focused primarily on an expressway connecting Hualien and Taitung and the extension of Freeway No. 6 to Hualien. The bill is currently backed by Legislative Yuan Vice President Johnny Chiang of the KMT...
The contest over who will be the next speaker of the Legislative Yuan is on. The DPP hopes for Yu Shyi-kun to continue serving as president of the Legislative Yuan. By contrast, the KMT has aligned behind a joint ticket of its 2020 presidential candidate, Han Kuo-yu, and its former chair, Johnny Chiang. As part of this ticket, Han would become president and Chiang would become vice president...
Controversy has broken out regarding the KMT’s election strategy planning committee, with internal dissent from younger KMT members against the inclusion of Hualien legislator Fu Kun-chi and former Tainan city council speaker Li Chuan-jiao. As a result, the election strategy planning committee has since been dissolved...
Former Nantou county magistrate Lee Chao-ching, a former member of the KMT, pled guilty to 81 crimes in a second-instance trial last week. As a result, Lee now faces 450 years in jail...
The KMT faces an internal quandary, with a recent standing committee election having resulted in controversy over vote buying and corruption. KMT chair Eric Chu has vowed to investigate and get to the bottom of any corruption, stating that he will take action within two weeks...
The KMT has increasingly come under scrutiny for corruption as of late. This is particularly the case, given that its candidate in the Taichung by-election to fill the seat formerly occupied by Chen Po-wei of the Taiwan Statebuilding Party was Yen Kuan-heng...
A new resolution passed by the KMT’s Central Standing Committee earlier this month provides an amnesty period, allowing for members that left or were kicked out of the KMT to rejoin before February 17th. This move is part of an initiative by recently elected chair Eric Chu to open the door for old members that have since left the party...
