The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship race heated up yesterday when Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"To avoid further spreading of rumors and damage to the image of the party, we will not rule out the possibility of filing a lawsuit, although we do not want to see this happen," said KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who also serves as a spokesperson for Wang's campaign headquarters.
While most pan-blue supporters are pinning their hopes on the election -- scheduled for Saturday -- and wish to see a transformation of the party, Hung said that she was disappointed to see how the campaign, which was supposed to be a "gentleman's competition," was turning out to be an exercise in mudslinging.
"If Ma wins the election, but it comes at the expense of the party's reputation, how does he expect the party to win in the long run?" she asked. "I am calling on Ma and his camp to exercise wisdom, rationality and composure."
Hung made the remark in response to accusations made earlier yesterday by KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (
Producing what he called "evidence," Wu said that Wang was suspected of vote-buying by offering cash between NT$500 and NT$3,000 or free gifts to solicit votes from potential supporters. Wang spent over NT$30 million (US$956,000) over the past few weeks offering 6,000 free meals to potential voters, Wu said.
Wu also claimed that he had received information from party employees in the KMT's Yunlin chapter that there are over 8,000 party members registered there who do not exist. Wu alleged that these false members could be used in the election to support Wang.
Wu said that he would submit related information to the party's election supervision committee for further investigation. The committee is scheduled to hold a meeting today.
Meanwhile, the Wang camp yesterday vowed to re-apply after Taipei City police yesterday rejected an application filed by Wang's camp to use Ketagelan Boulevard to hold a campaign rally on the eve of the election.
Citing the Assembly and Parade Law (
About a year ago, Ma, in the capacity of city mayor, expelled pan-blue supporters illegally gathering on Ketagelan Boulevard protesting the election-eve assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮).
Wang's move to hold a rally was widely seen as an attempt to stir up resentment among pan-blue supporters against Ma because of the incident.
also see story:
Editorial: KMT's dirty laundry aired again
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS