First lady Wu Shu-jen (
The DPP's Central Evaluation Committee announced the suspensions after reaching a unanimous decision. The decision took immediate effect.
It is DPP policy that members are subject to suspension of their party rights if they are indicted.
Wu has been indicted on corruption and forgery charges, while former Presidential Office deputy general-secretary Ma Yung-cheng (
The committee came under fire last Thursday when it failed to address the issue because a quorum could not be reached. The committee had planned to tackle the matter after the Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral elections, but met yesterday in response to media and public pressure.
All 11 members of the committee attended yesterday's meeting.
DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (
While Wu and the three aides did not attend the meeting, former presidential aide Chiang Chih-ming (
Chiang, a former chairman of the evaluation committee of the DPP's Taipei chapter, said that the matter should be handled by the Taipei chapter rather than the Central Evaluation Committee, as the four people were "regular party members," rather than administrative chiefs or elected officials.
Gao disagreed, saying that Ma and Lin were "important government officials" and that their cases could be dealt with as a single case because of their close connections.
It would therefore be inappropriate to let the party's Taipei chapter handle the matter, he said.
Gao, who doubles up as the committee's chairman, did not chair yesterday's meeting, citing his close relationship with the president.
Gao is a former secretary-general of the now disbanded Justice Alliance, which was co-founded by President Chen.
Gao said that he was not trying to shirk responsibility, but would like to avoid unnecessary speculation and establish a precedent to ensure the committee's impartiality.
DPP Legislator Tu Wen-ching (杜文卿) was elected acting chair.
The committee decided to deal with cases involving two other party members, Yen Wan-chin (顏萬進) and Lin Chung-cheng (林忠正), at its next meeting.
Yen, former vice minister of the interior, was indicted for receiving bribes in connection with the construction of a cable car system and other scandals.
Prosecutors suspect that Lin Chung-cheng, who is in police custody, accepted bribes in return for insider information on the stock market, to which he had access as a Financial Supervisory Commission member.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS