《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》Calls for expulsion over KMT criticism

BY ANY OTHER NAME: KMT members are considering dropping ‘China’ from the Party’s name as they assess how to appeal to younger voters amid internal splinter party conflict

By Shih Hsiao-kuang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

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New Party （新黨） member Wang Ping-chung （王炳忠） yesterday called for the expulsion of former Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） spokesperson Yang Wei-chung （楊偉中） from the party over Yang’s recent criticism of the KMT, including a name change.

Wang also criticized a group of younger KMT members who founded the “Grassroots Cooperation Alliance” for speaking out for reforms in the party after the election, but failing to support the party when it needed it most.

Wang said that Yang had also quit his position as spokesperson during the Sunflower movement, but had resumed his position after the situation died down.

“If you keep running away in the face of danger and returning in times of peace, why would the party need you as a ‘spokesperson?’” Wang said.

Wang said Yang’s claims that the KMT needs to change its name from Chinese Nationalist Party to Nationalist Party, to dispose fully of its party assets and become a democratized party was insulting, particularly as Yang had, days before the election, claimed on Facebook that he was a “Taiwanese independence activist” as a response to the Chou Tzu-yu （周子瑜） incident.

Chou, a 16-year-old Taiwanese singer pursuing a career in South Korea, was forced to apologize and say she “had always been Chinese” by her Soth Korean management agency, after she was said to be rooting for Taiwanese independence by holding the Republic of China （ROC） flag in a music video.

However, the use of the connotation “Taiwanese independence activist” is a denial of the legitimacy of the ROC government.

Wang said that if the KMT was looking for reform, they should start by dismissing Yang from the party.

Yang on Wednesday said that the KMT should change its name and capitalize more on the party’s focus in Taiwan.

Yang said that the party’s name had always been “Kuomintang” when party founder Sun Yat-sen （孫中山） established the ROC and not the Chinese Kuomintang （中國國民黨）, adding that the party should return to a more left-leaning direction as it had been under Sun.

Alliance member Lee Cheng-hao （李正皓） said the English name of the party had always been KMT and it had not added “China” or “Chinese.” Alliance member Hsu Chiao-hsin （徐巧芯） said many older party members were not averse to the changing of the party’s name.

Hsu and Lee said they would be resigning formal posts within the party soon.

The alliance is not affected by any external political movements and has not been officially sanctioned within the party, Hsu said, adding that it was a loose alliance formed by members of a reading group hoping to help the party.

In light of the KMT’s turmoil, Wang said on a talk show on Wednesday that if the KMT is considering taking “China” out of its official title, the New Party should consider renaming itself the Chinese Nationalist Party instead.

The New Party has been a KMT splinter since 1993 and its leanings are pro-unification with China.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES