Haunted by insinuations that its members had put their votes up for sale in last week's legislative vote for top government posts, the TSU was so eager to clarify its position that two of its leading legislators got into a public rift yesterday over their accounts of the events.
The two legislators, Hsu Den-kuon (許登宮) and Cheng Chen-lung (程振隆), tried to downplay the embarrassing episode afterwards, saying that they had lost their tempers because they could no longer stand the mounting public pressure upon them.
Former interior minister Chang Po-ya (張博雅), whose nomination for Examination Yuan vice president was not approved, has said that a group of legislators had asked her for money in exchange for their support for her nomination.
Because some TSU legislators reportedly voted against Chang's nomination last Friday -- which the TSU has not denied -- there is speculation that the legislators who tried to solicit money from Chang were from the TSU.
That speculation has been fed by the fact that certain TSU legislators, under instructions from Cheng, broke contact with their caucus for an entire afternoon and only went to cast their ballots about nine minutes before the deadline.
The hurried manner in which the votes were cast made it impossible for the DPP to check their votes to see if they had voted for the nominees.
Hsu, convener of the TSU legislative caucus, has reportedly been extremely unhappy with Cheng over the matter since last week.
At a press conference in which both Hsu and Cheng were present yesterday, Cheng, who is also the caucus' chief executive, explained that he was having lunch with 10 TSU legislators that afternoon and that is why they were late to vote.
Cheng said he had invited Hsu to the lunch, but Hsu could not come because he felt sick and wanted to rest.
Hsu protested to Cheng about his remarks as soon as the press conference was over. Hsu demanded to know why Cheng had told people that he was sick when it was Cheng who wanted him to stay in the legislature to monitor the vote that afternoon.
Cheng began pounding his fists on a nearby wall, yelling, "Why have you humiliated me?" and "I can't take this defamation any longer."
Before the verbal exchange could continue, Hsu and Cheng were dragged into a room by other legislators who attempted to mediate between the two men.
The TSU yesterday said that the party had never been involved in any attempt to solicit money from the nominees and requested Minis-ter of Justice Chen Ding-nan (
The party said the allegations were rumors started by the KMT and PFP to pave the way for Chang's Kaohsiung mayoral bid.
Lo Chih-ming (羅志明), deputy convener of the TSU caucus, said his party discovered that KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) had sent KMT legislators Wang Chung-yu (王鍾渝) and Huang Ming-hui (黃敏慧) to Chiayi in an attempt to persuade Chang to join the mayoral race after Chang failed in her bid for Examination Yuan vice president.
Lo said PFP Chairman James Soong (
As Chang needed to find a way to justify her mayoral bid, the KMT and PFP had conspired to come up with a plan to smear the "pan green" camp with the vote-buying allegations, Lo said.
In response to the TSU's comments, James Chen (
Chen said the two parties will coordinate among the four contestants soon.
Also see story:
Chang in Kaohsiung to garner support, local politicians say
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS