Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞) yesterday won the Taitung County Commissioner by-election.
Kuang is the ex-wife of Wu Chun-li (吳俊立), a KMT member who was elected county commissioner last December, but was then suspended from his post immediately upon assuming office because of a corruption conviction.
Wu then divorced his wife, Kuang, in an attempt to sidestep restrictions preventing a commissioner from selecting a relative or spouse as deputy. Kuang then joined the KMT to run for the Taitung post.
PHOTO: HANG TSUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Kuang received 42,578 votes in yesterday's poll, triumphing over three independent candidates by a large margin. Former Taitung deputy commissioner Liu Chuan-hao (劉櫂豪) received 19,110 ballots, former Taitung mayor Lai Koon-cheng (賴坤成) received 4,765 votes and Aboriginal candidate Lofa (
Kuang, accompanied by Wu, yesterday evening received the congratulations of supporters at her headquarters and thanked residents.
"We won it back," she said.
Although Wu's ex-wife and the KMT won back the post, KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has been criticized for going to the county and publicly campaigning for the ex-wife of a man who has been convicted of corruption and vote-buying.
Wu was charged with corruption while a Taitung County councilor.
In 2002, the Taitung District Court sentenced him to 16 years in prison. Mayors or commissioners found guilty of corruption by local district courts are suspended from office.
Wu has appealed the ruling.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS