Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he would resign from his post as the KMT chairman if he were indicted by prosecutors on corruption charges.
"According to KMT regulations, my party membership will be suspended if I am indicted," Ma said at a municipal event in Beitou.
Ma was referring to the party's "black gold exclusion clause."
Under Ma's chairmanship, the regulations were tightened to impose tougher restrictions on party members and candidates, stating that KMT members would be forced out of the party if indicted.
The old regulations stated that a member could only be suspended if found guilty in a trial.
Ma declined to say whether he would also resign as mayor.
"We will talk about this at a proper time. Right now we are focusing on clarifying the situation as soon as possible," he said later at the city hall.
Ma's eight-year term as Taipei mayor will finish at the end of next month.
Acknowledging that he was "not feeling so great" about the scandal, Ma dismissed the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) accusations that his savings have recently increased rapidly.
"I already made public my savings records, on May 19. The time to declare my property again is in December," Ma said, adding that he would take the opportunity to make public his property at that time.
Ma explained that most of the increase in his property holdings came from his own personal wealth, saying that both he and his wife belong to a high-income group, and have been too busy to spend their money. As such, the two are able to save most of their incomes, he said.
DPP lawmakers yesterday accused Ma of disposing of his assets after he came under suspicion for embezzling public money.
"A staffer of [Taipei] Fubon Bank told me that Ma had sent certain sums of money, each above NT$500,000 (US$15,165), to social groups as personal donations," DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) told a press conference.
DPP lawmakers estimated that Ma might have embezzled some NT$17.65 million from the mayoral special allowance fund by diverting half of the fund, or NT$170,000, into his personal account every month since he assumed office.
"Ma has to explain why he chose to make the donations at this time," she added.
Ma had tried to explain the embezzlement allegation by saying that his wealth was mostly accumulated from his and his wife's monthly salaries, and said on Thursday that he would make his assets known to the public in December
Kuan showed a cash remittance at the press conference, in which Ma donated over NT$500,000 to a social group.
"Let's see how Ma explains these donations, and I might reveal more details about other donations at a later time," Kuan said.
Earlier yesterday, dozens of DPP lawmakers called press conferences one after another attacking irregularities in Ma's use of his mayoral fund.
DPP Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said Ma didn't dare to disclose the original receipts for the fund as many of them were for his personal use.
"A secret source told me that Ma had sought reimbursement from the public fund for his razor blades. Someone also told me that about 11 high-level city government officials get together every night to collude in false confessions for the irregularities," Hsu said.
Taipei City Government Secretariat Director Lee Sush-der(李述德) later yesterday denied Hsu's claims.
When asked to release copies of the receipts, Lee once again refused.
"If we published the copies, what would the prosecutors think?" he asked.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique