The Taiwan High Court yesterday did not hand down a ruling on Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng’s (王金平) injunction against the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) revocation of his party membership, as lawyers representing both sides continued to hold heated debates.
The court could make a ruling as early as today on the status of Wang’s membership, which was revoked by the KMT on Sept. 11 over his alleged involvement in improper lobbying.
If the court upholds the previous ruling on the case made by the Taipei District Court on Sept. 13, which allowed Wang to retain his membership, he would provisionally be able to keep his positions as a KMT legislator-at-large and as legislative speaker pending an appeal if the KMT elects to contest the ruling with the Supreme Court.
Photo: CNA
At yesterday’s three-hour hearing, eight lawyers representing Wang and three acting on behalf of the KMT made their cases to Presiding Judge Wei Li-chuan (魏麗娟).
Hsu Ying-chieh (許英傑), one of Wang’s lawyers, said that the transcripts from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Division’s (SID) wiretap — cited by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the KMT as proof that Wang participated in lobbying to take legal pressure off Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) — should have been invalidated because the wiretap itself was illegal and an abuse of the division’s investigative rights.
The KMT’s lawyer Chen Ming (陳明) had previously said that the Taipei District Court “has no jurisdiction” over the case because a person being disciplined by their party is “a matter within the scope of the party’s autonomy,” adding that his interpretation was supported by a verdict rendered by the Japanese Supreme Court in a similar case involving a party member’s status in Japan 30 years ago.
However, Hsu told reporters after yesterday’s hearing that the KMT lawyers were misinterpreting the case in Japan as a court had eventually decided the case, which lent support to Wang’s lawyers’ stance that the KMT’s right to autonomy as a party should not be unlimited.
In addition, the party has not specified how Wang has damaged its reputation and the KMT’s Central Evaluation and Discipline Committee is designated by its chairman, Ma, not via a democratic process, raising questions about its independence, Hsu said.
The party’s lawyers submitted five documents stating six disputed points and 30 arguments about the initial ruling and the KMT’s handling of the case to the High Court before yesterday’s hearing, but did not come up with any fresh arguments.
The judge asked the KMT during yesterday’s hearing to submit additional documents to specify how Wang had damaged the party’s image.
The party appealed the case with the Taiwan High Court after the Taipei District Court ruled that Wang could keep his rights as a KMT member until a final ruling is made, on the condition that he pay a guarantee of NT$9.38 million (US$315,000) to the party.
According to the law, if the KMT wins the appeal, the case will be sent back to the district court for reconsideration, but if the appeal fails, the party may appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
‘NO EQUILIBRIUM’: Taiwan’s increased defense spending is a good step, but it needs to do more to have the ability to deter aggression from China, a senior US official said The US plans to sell as many as seven major weapons systems — including mines, cruise missiles and drones — to Taiwan, four people familiar with the discussions said. Pursuing seven sales at once is a rare departure from years of precedent in which US military sales to Taiwan were spaced out and carefully calibrated to minimize tensions with Beijing. However, US President Donald Trump’s administration has this year become more aggressive with China, and the sales would land as relations between Beijing and Washington are at their lowest point in decades over accusations of spying, lingering trade tensions, disputes about the
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Several of the PLA fighter jets that crossed the median line of the Strait came within 68km of Hsinchu, drawing warnings from Taiwan, the ministry said At least 18 Chinese military aircraft yesterday flew into the nation’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on the second day of a US delegation’s visit, the Ministry of National Defense said, adding that the military responded by deploying an air defense missile system to monitor their activities. A delegation led by US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach on Thursday started a three-day visit to Taiwan. The ministry from Thursday started publicizing the actions of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Taiwan’s ADIZ on its Web site and Twitter. According to ministry reports, 18 PLA aircraft
ON THEIR OWN: The KMT has decided not to participate as a party at this year’s forum, and if any members do go, they would not be representing the party, Alicia Wang said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday announced that it would not send a delegation “as a political party” to this year’s Straits Forum, after a Chinese TV program described the planned visit to the annual meeting as “suing for peace.” The 12th forum is scheduled to open in Xiamen, China, on Saturday. On Tuesday last week, the KMT announced that former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) would lead the party’s delegation to the forum, with KMT Secretary-General Lee Chien-lung (李乾龍) as deputy head. However, on Thursday last week, China Central Television’s (CCTV) Yangshipin (央視頻) program, hosted by Li Hong (李紅), included a headline
WORKING OVERTIME? NTU professor Lee Duu-jong denied that he had held a part-time position at a Chinese university or joined China’s Thousand Talents Program A candidate for the post of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) president yesterday dropped out of the race following a report questioning his links to Chinese academia and government programs. Lee Duu-jong (李篤中), a professor at National Taiwan University’s (NTU) chemical engineering department, was a member of China’s Changjiang Scholars’ Program in 2006 and was on the list of its Thousand Talents Program in 2017, a report by Chinese-language Mirror Media magazine said yesterday. The article said that Lee is suspected of having held a part-time job at the Harbin Institute of Technology in China and was the recipient
RSS