The Dunning-Kruger Party Swings (further) Right

Timber Processing in Miaoli.

Were you thinking the KMT was going to change? Doesn't look like it. The last couple of weeks have been filled with news item like these....

The Liberty Times, which is deeply pro-Green, reported the other day that a Deep blue organization within the KMT has demanded that the Party kick out its two leading Taiwanese: Wang Jin-pyng and Huang Min-hui. Huang ran against current Deep Blue Chairman Hung Hsiu-chu in the recent chairmanship election. This sends a strong signal to Taiwanese in the Party that they will never be accepted by the ruling elites and the Huangfuxing, the deep Blue old soldier base of the KMT.

This week the KMT decided to expel outspoken critic and former spokesman Yang Wei-chung...

The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) decision yesterday to axe the party’s outspoken former spokesman Yang Wei-chung (楊偉中) has drawn ire, with some interpreting the move as the beginning of the party’s shift toward a deep-blue ideology.

....

Due to the political sensitivity of the case, the disciplinary committee decided to convene a second meeting after spending two-and-a-half hours discussing whether Yang should be expelled over his frequent critical remarks about the KMT during its first meeting on Friday last week.

Yang was initially invited by the disciplinary committee to defend himself in person at the second meeting, but he was unable to attend due to a prearranged plan to participate in summer camps held by the Taiwanese Association in the US. He is scheduled to return to Taiwan on July 11.

“Members of the Evaluation and Discipline Committee made the decision by a consensus vote,” KMT Culture and Communications Committee director Chow Chi-wai (周志偉) said.

"Consensus vote" in local parlance means "whatever the Chairman of the committee decides. Note that they held the disciplinary hearing when Yang was out of the country, a final little dig at him.

The article on the Yang case observed that there was continued rumbling among the Deep Blue base to expel Wang Jin-pyng, who was once the unofficial leader of the Taiwanese KMTers in the legislature. The Party lost because it wasn't Taiwanese enough...

Hau Long-bin, the former Taipei mayor, now a vice-chairman of the KMT, accused the President of belittling the ROC in her visit to Panama this week...

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday accused President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of “belittling the official title” of the nation by describing herself as the “President of Taiwan” during her first overseas state visit.

“The Republic of China, abbreviated as ROC, is the title of our nation. It is the official national title under which we have repeatedly endeavored to seek global recognition,” the fomer Taipei mayor wrote on Facebook.

Hau posted a photograph of the message Tsai left in a visitor’s book after touring the sluice gates of the expanded Panama Canal on Sunday, in which she wrote: “Witnessing the centennial achievement, jointly creating future prosperity,” and identifying herself as “President of Taiwan [ROC].”

I'm sure Hau's stance will go over well with today's Taiwan-oriented voters...

UPDATE: Today's Taipei Times editorial on Yang:

A recent investigative report by online outlet Storm Media showed that young KMT members are still complaining about having no stage in the party and about being treated as lackeys “who are called upon only when they are needed for party events,” despite the January election results and the party’s losses in the 2014 nine-in-one elections.

Yang has criticized KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) over the direction she is leading the party. His latest denunciation was against the person Hung invited to speak at yesterday’s Central Standing Committee meeting about the party’s assets, Wu Chi-chang (武之璋). Wu has championed the view that the 228 Incident was a riot by a motley mob of gangsters instigated by political speculators influenced by Japan who attacked waishengren (外省人, Mainlanders) and had to be put down.

_______________________
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!