More speculation about the infighting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) emerged yesterday with a magazine report that Ma had forced Wang’s removal as a pre-emptive measure to safeguard his chairmanship of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
The cover story in the latest edition of the Chinese-language weekly The Journalist (新新聞) said the alleged influence peddling scandal surrounding Wang was orchestrated by Ma to foil a plot to have Wang succeed Ma as KMT chairman should the party lose in the seven-in-one elections next year.
The story said that several major KMT figures, including former party chairmen Lien Chan (連戰) and Wu Po-hsiung (吳伯雄), Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and New Taipei City (新北市) Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), have been scheming against Ma.
The story said the group planned to get a resolution passed at the party’s convention on Sept. 29 demanding that Ma, who was re-elected chairman in June, take full responsibility for the party’s performance in next year’s elections and hand over his position to Wang.
The Special Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office has accused Wang of illegally lobbying for Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in a breach of trust case by urging then-minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) and Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office Head Prosecutor Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) to use their influence to stop an appeal of a not-guilty verdict for Ker.
While the allegations, made on Friday last week, still have to be investigated by the Control Yuan, the KMT’s Central Evaluation and Discipline Committee decided on Wednesday to revoke Wang’s membership, which, if upheld, would force him to step down as legislator-at-large and as speaker.
The allegations against Wang have sparked various conspiracy theories involving Ma: that he wanted to defeat party factions close to Wang in the party’s Central Standing Committee election on Saturday last week, that he was unhappy with the stalled review in the legislature of the cross-strait service trade agreement and the proposed referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City, or that he wanted to consolidate his leadership in the party to ensure he plays a key role in nominations for next year’s elections.
The domestically designed Teng Yun 2 drone passed development milestones over the weekend, flying for more than 10 hours straight and circling Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), in the longest flight of an indigenous uncrewed combat aerial vehicle. Developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, the Teng Yun 2, or “Cloud Rider” (騰雲二型), recorded its longest flight yet over the weekend, after a three-hour test flight last month, followed by five and seven-hour stretches in the air. The Teng Yun 2 No. 1812 departed from Chiashan Air Base in Hualien County at 6:46pm on Saturday and flew on a
OVER THE HUMP: In a seven-day period ending on Wednesday, the nation reported 366,628 new cases, down 19 percent from the 451,358 reported in the previous week The nation might further open up to more arrivals in the next two months, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 48,283 new local COVID-19 cases, down from more than 50,000 in the previous few days. Taiwan on Wednesday last week introduced a plan to allow up to 25,000 arrivals per week as part of efforts to gradually reopen borders, which includes reducing mandatory quarantines for inbound travelers from seven to three days, followed by four days in “self-initiated epidemic prevention.” The quota covers inbound Taiwanese arrivals, businesspeople and migrant workers. Former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) yesterday said
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A slew of new measures are to take effect on Friday, including nationwide bring-your-own-cup discounts. The new rule requires chain beverage shops to offer discounts of at least NT$5 (US$0.17) to customers who bring their own cups, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said. The policy would apply to more than 50,000 chain retail locations, including beverage shops, convenience stores, fast-food restaurants and supermarkets. It aims to cut down on waste from single-use plastic cups, more than 2.2 billion of which were used in Taiwan in 2020, the agency said. For convenience, the EPA said it has asked retailers to display signs stating how
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