Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Luo Wen-chia's (
A member of the party's Central Standing Committee, Huang Ching-lin (
Huang told the press before the meeting that Luo, who used to be considered Chen's protege, was not qualified to comment on the president or the DPP because "he hasn't helped out with party affairs or governmental affairs since he lost the Taipei County commissioner race last year.
Luo has been attending a short-term study program at Harvard University since he lost the Taipei County commissioner election in December last year.
Luo said during a question-and-answer session after a speech he delivered at Boston University on Monday that Chen might not have intended to embezzle from his "state affairs fund" but made the mistake of lying to cover inconsistencies in the case.
"Those who should leave should go. Those who bring disgrace on the group should not stay in the party," Huang said.
Huang's proposal, however, was only discussed in the committee meeting yesterday and DPP Deputy Secretary-General Tsai Huang-liang (
DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (
Vice President Annette Lu (
She did not elaborate.
DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (
Former DPP legislator Lee Wen-chung (
Luo yesterday expressed disappointment over his colleagues' criticism, and rebuked the president for telling lies to cover up mistakes he made.
"I am not surprised but rather disappointed by the fact that party members have such different opinions about me," Luo said in a message posted on his personal blog.
"Has our society become so crazy that there is no room for reasonable discussion?" he asked.
Luo said he would like to tell his critics that they would have said something different had they been there to listen to his entire speech.
"It's a pity that you were not there," he said.
Luo yesterday said he initially hesitated in accepting the speech invitation and understood that he could not avoid criticism in commenting on such a sensitive issue after a nine-month absence from the public eye.
Sharing views
He said the reason he eventually accepted the invitation was that he did not want to forgo an opportunity to dialogue with young people and that he wanted to share his feelings and observations of Taiwan and the DPP with friends and interested academics and policymakers in the US.
Luo said he was thinking of coming back to vote before in next month's elections and hoped his return would help change the domestic political status quo.
He denied that the move had anything to do with setting the stage for next year's legislative election.
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS