Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) deputy legislative caucus whip Wang Shu-hui (
Conflict arose earlier this week between Kaohsiung Country Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (
Yang claimed that Fan's husband, Chang Fu-chung (
Yang said he had received a phone call from Fan saying that the ministry would provide NT$1 million (US$30,000) in subsidies for the construction of the building if the ministry was allowed to appoint the architects.
Yang said that he had agreed to receive subsidies from the ministry but as a result, the finished building was ugly and unsatisfactory.
The principal, students and teachers at the school also thought that the building was ugly and spoiled the scenery, Yang added.
Fan held a press conference on Friday denying Yang's allegations, and insisting that she and her husband had never interfered in the process of selecting an architect for the building.
Wang said that Yang and Fan are both exceptional talents in the DPP and that she was sure they would communicate.
Premier Frank Hsieh (
Hsieh added that similar accusations had been leveled in the past against Fan and her husband, but that investigations had not uncovered any illegal activities.
In order to assure the neutrality of the investigation process, Hsieh said the ethics office would head the process instead of letting the ministry conduct its own probe.
Meanwhile, the ministry said that the architect for the new school building was selected using a fair process.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
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