Independent Legislator Chiu Yi (
With Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
When asked whether he would enter the Kaohsiung mayoral poll, Chiu said that it is one of the many options available to him in the future, but emphasized that the party has many other talented people and that he has to take care of his three children as a single father.
Meanwhile, Chiu yesterday cried foul over a subpoena issued by the Kaohsiung District Court asking him to appear in court on Friday.
Chiu is charged with violating the Assembly and Parade Law (
The court issued the subpoena on Monday after Chiu failed to show up at last Friday's hearing. Chiu has reportedly been absent from several court hearings related to the case.
Chiu said yesterday that while the court claimed he has appeared at only 10 of the hearings, he has actually attended court more than 20 times.
"I remember one time I received eight summons in one day and I answered all of them," he said. "I go to 70 percent of the court hearings, and when I can't make it, I ask my lawyers to go on my behalf."
Chiu also questioned whether it is appropriate for the plaintiff, the Kaohsiung District Court, to handle the case.
Claiming that the trial is illegal, Chiu said that he is planning to file for compensation for the losses he has incurred over the past few months.
Other KMT lawmakers also jumped to Chiu's defense.
KMT caucus whip Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛) said that she suspects that there is political interference in the matter and called on the administration to keep its nose out of the judicial system.
KMT legislators Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教) echoed Pan's opinion and declared that "justice is dead."
EXCUSES: Beijing is using government and research vessels as a pretext to harass the nation and enter its EEZ, and engage in ‘hegemonic expansion,’ the coast guard said The Coast Guard Administration yesterday said it drove away Chinese oceanographic research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 22 (向陽紅33) from restricted waters after warning it that it was in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Chinese vessel entered restricted waters off the coast of Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳) at 11:35pm on Thursday, the coast guard said, adding that it dispatched the Lanyu patrol vessel and the boat PP-10077 to shadow the Chinese ship and issue radio warnings ordering it to leave. China has no sovereignty over waters off Taiwan’s east coast, Lanyu’s crew told Xiang Yang Hong 22 over the radio, and demanded
BAIT AND SWITCH: Allowing KMT-run counties to sell to China while the threat of abrupt cancelations hangs overhead is another form of coercion, officials said Beijing is using agricultural purchase offers announced during the Straits Forum to deepen Taiwan’s dependence on the Chinese market, a Taiwanese official said yesterday as they criticized the Taitung County commissioner’s participation in the initiative. During the Straits Forum held in Xiamen on Saturday, Chinese officials announced a sales and purchase agreement for agricultural products from some counties led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Taitung County Commissioner Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴), who was barred from attending the event in person by the Mainland Affairs Council, participated via video. Under the agreement, China would purchase atemoyas, pomeloes, tea and grouper harvested in Taitung,
Tropical Storm Mekkhala is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon tomorrow and could come close enough to Taiwan later in the week to prompt a sea warning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2 pm, the storm was located 1,870 kilometers southeast of Taiwan's southern tip and moving west- northwest at 23 km per hour. CWA forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭傑仁) said Mekkhala is expected to continue moving west-northwest through Tuesday under the influence of the Pacific high- pressure system before gradually turning north toward waters east of Taiwan or south of the Ryukyu Islands. The timing and angle of the
Four Taiwanese universities have been ranked among the world's top 200 institutions in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings for next year, the highest Taiwan has ever placed in the category, with National Taiwan University (NTU) achieving its best performance at 54th globally and 17th in Asia. The four Taiwanese institutions in the global top 200 are NTU (54th), National Tsing Hua University (142nd), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (177th) and National Cheng Kung University (191st), the rankings showed. All four universities achieved their highest-ever global rankings this year, QS data showed. National Cheng Kung University entered the top 200 for
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