Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (???) reiterated the KMT’s close historic ties to the United States and said the party continues to fight against communism and compete with the Chinese Communist Party over values and political systems, the KMT said in a statement Monday.
Chu, who is on an 11-day trip to the U.S., made the remarks during a visit to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in California on June 2, highlighting the fact that the KMT and the U.S. shared memories of fighting side by side.
The U.S. and the then KMT-ruled China were allies during the Second World War, and more than 250,000 Americans served in what was known as the “China-Burma-India” theater.
Pointing out that the KMT had fought against communism for the last 100 years, Chu said the party has fought bloody battles to defend Taiwan, but is still willing to maintain exchanges with China’s private sector.
While at the Hoover Institution, Chu met with American experts and scholars there including Larry Diamond and Kharis Templeman on issues related to cross-Taiwan Strait security and relations.
During their meeting, the American scholars raised concerns about Taiwan’s local government elections at the end of the year to which Chu expressed cautious optimism, the KMT said in the statement.
In addition to ruling more than two-thirds of the counties and cities in Taiwan, the KMT will field outstanding candidates to challenge for the municipalities, counties, and cities that they currently do not rule, Chu said.
Meanwhile, during a press event with Taiwanese media in Washington on Sunday, Chu said he will reopen the KMT’s representative office in the U.S. after a hiatus of 14 years.
Chu said the KMT, Taiwan’s main opposition party since 2016, had not had a voice in Washington since the closure of its representative office, and the aim of reinstating it was to let the U.S. better understand the party’s position and the different voices of Taiwan.
Chu is set to attend the plaque-unveiling ceremony to reopen the KMT’s liaison office in Washington on June 8. It was shuttered by the party in 2008 shortly after the election of Ma Ying-jeou (???) as president.
When asked if the move was in any way linked to him possibly running for the presidency in 2024, Chu rejected the idea, saying that it was part of his job as the party chairman to engage in party politics.
Reopening the office will also establish a communication channel for the KMT’s future presidential candidates to improve their understanding with the U.S., Chu said.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel