KMT EXPELS DEFENSE MINISTER
ROC Central News Agency
2007-03-09 19:22:29
Taipei, March 9 (CNA) The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) expelled Defense Minister Lee Jye from the party Friday, ruling that Lee has seriously tarnished the KMT's image by soiling the reputation of the late KMT Chairman Chiang Kai-shek and undermining the political neutrality of the military.
In a statement, the KMT Evaluation and Discipline Committee said the party decided to repeal Lee's membership as punishment for his aquiescence with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's plans to relocate or dismantle all statues of Chiang from military barracks and remove the references to Chiang from Taiwan.
Lee's remarks recently made at the legislature that "he would listen to whichever party become the ruling party" has seriously undermined the spirit of political neutrality within the military that the country has pursued -- remarks that prompted the KMT to deal with Lee "squarely," the statement said.
(By Deborah Kuo)
ENDITEM/jnc
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