The Mainichi: Taiwan’s once-powerful Kuomintang faces make-or-break moment

Taipei Times: Chiang sees KMT institute as key to attracting talent

Quick Take on Taiwan: Putting on a brave face, or is KMT candidate Han Kuo-yu’s team in denial?

It is normal in elections, regardless of how bad the polls look, to put on a brave face and express confidence. That certainly isn’t specific to Taiwan. In spite of how the polls look, one would expect the Han camp to pooh-pooh how bad the situation is. This quote in the Taipei Times is the […]
Taipei Times: 2020 Elections: Candidates draw ballot numbers

… PFP Secretary-General Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞), who drew No. 1 on behalf of the party’s candidates, said the party would consider any number lucky. … Soong was also listed No. 1 on the ballot in the 2000 presidential election, which he lost by a thin margin, Lee said. “The result in the 2000 presidential election […]
Taiwan’s KMT taking out loans to pay salaries (Donovan’s quick take)

The KMT’s woes are continuing to mount on pretty much all fronts, largely due to an institutional culture and product of that culture and current party Chairman Wu Den-yih. The KMT brought massive wealth to Taiwan from China in the late 1940s, seized many assets that belonged to Japanese colonial government after their surrender, and […]
KMT: Wu Den-yih Will Strive to Become Speaker If KMT Secures Legislative Majority in 2020

Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), the KMT’s Chairman, officially expressed his stance to strive for the position as the legislative speaker! On November 29, Wu indicated in an exclusive interview that if the KMT secured the majority of legislative seats in 2020, and if these new-elected legislators supported him, he would strive to become the legislative speaker. […]
Frozen Garlic: The NPP’s internal divisions, Ko’s new party, and the China Cleavage

Every now and then, an international media outlet will publish a story on Taiwan elections that interprets everything through the lens of relations with China. For example, someone might write a story saying that, after the recent events in Hong Kong, the DPP’s presidential prospects are surging. Every time this happens, a gaggle of Taiwan-based […]
Current Affairs Taiwan (CAT) 06.16.2019 Pilot 04

Hosts Michael Turton (麥哲恩) and Courtney Donovan Smith (石東文) this week discuss the HK rallies, the DPP Primary and conspiracy theories involving President Tsai’s missing thesis, The KMT primary…the KMT primary…the KMT primary…because wow is it exciting this time around! Han Kuo-yu says “over my dead body” to “one country, two system”, Terry Gou complains […]
RTI Radio: Who will be the 2020 KMT presidential candidate?

Natalie Tso speaks with political analyst Courtney Donovan Smith about the forerunners in the race to be KMT presidential candidate.