Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday played down some Father's Day remarks by his father, who said that he hoped his son would run for president.
Ma Ho-ling (
"Since the day Ying-jeou was born, I made a lot of effort to instill a sense of duty in him regarding this nation's well-being. Running for the presidency is his ultimate goal," the 84-year-old senior Ma was quoted as saying.
Although the general perception is that the mayor is aiming for the 2008 presidential election -- given his popularity within the KMT -- Ma Ying-jeou yesterday tried to allay any sensitivities caused by his father's remarks.
He said that it was only natural for an elderly parent to ask for a bright future from his children.
Ma Ying-jeou said he was not aware of the details of his father's interview, but even if the remarks were accurate, people should not attach excessive political connotations to them.
"Please understand my feelings as the son of an 84-year-old father who spoke of his Father's Day wish for a bright future for his son," the mayor said yesterday in a written announcement.
"Since I entered politics, I have never had excessive ambition for something out of reach, nor been keen on chasing power ? the most important task for me at the moment is to focus on the city administration; otherwise all this was nothing but empty words," he said.
Ma Ho-ling's comments lead to renewed speculation about whether or not Lien and Soong would step down.
But in a rare move, Premier Yu Shyi-kun defended Ma Ying-jeou yesterday, saying "Lien and Soong should step down as early as possible so they can leave behind a good reputation."
In a radio interview, Yu said Ma Ho-ling's remarks reflected not only the anxiety of an elderly father, but that of other people around the mayor and Ma Ying-jeou himself.
"Lien and Soong should retire as soon as possible for the sake of both the development of their parties and the power transfer of the generations. If they could retire early, they might leave themselves a good reputation," Yu said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) was a bit more sarcastic, saying "there have been quite a lot of failures for those who have made up their minds to be president."
When reporters asked Lien about the idea of Ma running for president, the KMT boss declined to comment, saying only "you have to ask Ma Ho-ling."
KMT Policy Committee Convener Tseng Yung-chuan (
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the