President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) sister Ma Yi-nan (馬以南) sent a strongly worded text message to several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers condemning Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and asking for their support in the president’s battle with Wang.
In the text message, Ma Yi-nan termed Wang a “shameless speaker” and said that his alleged role in unduly influencing the judiciary to drop a case involving an opposition caucus whip was an act of “betrayal” against the KMT.
The message was sent on Thursday to seven KMT legislators: Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), Apollo Chen (陳學聖), Alex Fai (費鴻泰), Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉) and Wang Hui-mei (王惠美).
Photo: CNA
Ma Yi-nan said she wanted the seven to talk to other KMT lawmakers and ask them to come out in support of Ma, who doubles as KMT chairman, in his relentless fight for “matters of principle” in this case.
“I haven’t seen any KMT lawmaker express support [for Ma Ying-jeou] in front of the media, but I honestly believe that we can judge right from wrong in our hearts. The president cannot back out now,” Ma Yi-nan said.
There is no way that the president will compromise the principles of right and wrong in this case because he has to “right the wrong,” she said.
“Recently when I was in New York, I heard a large cohort of people berate Wang. They said: ‘How come the speaker is so shameless’ and that ‘the speaker exerting undue influence in a case in favor of the caucus whip of an opposition party’ amounted to an act of betrayal against the party,” she said.
She added that the overseas compatriots she met in New York also made admonitory remarks about KMT lawmakers and said that they should have the courage to step forward to back the president.
Asked to respond, Wang said that he thanked her for her comments.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS