Taiwan Today

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party suspended the rights and privileges of two of its senior members for three years July 23, because the two defied party’s orders and attended a forum in mainland China. The two party members in question are Hsu Jung-shu, a former legislator, and Fan Cheng-tzung, minister of the Council of Agriculture during the former DPP administration. Earlier this month, the DPP had put a ban on all party officials from attending the Cross-Strait Forum, which was to be held in mainland China July 11-12. Thus prior to the July 23 disciplinary hearing there was widespread speculation the two faced certain expulsion from the party, especially since Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of the DPP, had publicly called for precisely such a move during the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting July 15. Hsu and Fan themselves seemed convinced they would be expelled. Before entering the disciplinary hearing, they read from a prepared statement which said: “Faced with the severe penalties of our party, we leave behind only these words: ‘Those in the center of power in Taiwan are the Taiwanese people; and those who are hurt by mistaken policies are the Taiwanese people as well.’” The outcome was thus somewhat of a surprise, and may have been due in part to the remorse shown by Hsu and Fan for their actions. “Given their contrite attitude, we have decided to suspend the membership privileges of Hsu and Fan for three years,” DPP Central Review Committee Chairman Chen Chin-de said. “The two seem to feel sorry for their wrongdoing, and Fan, in particular, has said he will issue a public apology,” Chen said. During the party’s CRC meeting, Hsu and Fan were invited to defend themselves. Most CRC members were initially inclined to expel the two, but others pointed to the immense contributions the two had made to the party, and said expelling them might spark criticism from within the party. Some said expelling the two only because they attended the forum would violate the principle of proportionality. Still others pointed to Hsu and Fan’s recent criticisms of the DPP. Back and forth, those for and against expelling Hsu and Fan debated for more than an hour. In the end, by a narrow five-to-four vote, the party’s CRC meeting decided to suspend the rights and privileges of Hsu and Fang for three years—the maximum period of suspension allowed by party rules, according to Chen. (CYH-HZW)