Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters yesterday said it would organize a special team to investigate a media allegation against DPP Legislators Gao Jyh-peng (
The Director of the DPP's Department of Culture and Information Super Meng (孟義超) told a press conference that DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lin Yi-cheng (林宜正) and Central Standing Committee member Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) will be in charge of investigating whether the three attended late-night gatherings with female escorts.
Meng said the men's memberships would not be suspended for now but did not specify if they would be referred to the DPP's Central Review Committee for disciplinary action.
Gao yesterday also told DPP Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (
Whether he will be referred to the Integrity Committee depends on the party's decision which may be made during tomorrow's Central Executive Committee meeting.
According to DPP guidelines, party members are liable to punishment if their behavior violates the party's resolutions or damages its image.
If the wrongdoing is a violation of members' integrity or involves conflicts of interest, the matter is referred to the Central Review Committee after being investigated by the Integrity Committee first.
The party instigated its crisis management after a front-page report in the Chinese-language Apple Daily on Sunday alleged Gao, Yu, Lee and presidential aid Kuo Wen-pin (郭文彬) enjoyed escorts' company in separate late-night gatherings held in a Taipei guesthouse.
The report showed pictures of Gao, Yu and Lee leaving the location alone before dawn while a series of four pictures showed Kuo giving a woman a ride in his car.
DPP legislators were divided over how to deal with Gao, Yu and Lee. DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊毅) told the media that as long as they did not violate the law or damage the party's image when visiting the guesthouse, the incident should be regarded as "a matter of one's personal upbringing and ability to control oneself."
Any speculation before facts are established would harm the individuals, he said, urging DPP members not to "make something out of nothing."
DPP Lawmaker Tsai Chi-fang (
"It is all right as long as they were not involved in wrongdoing," he said.
DPP Legislator Lin Chung-mo (
DPP Legislator Wang Shu-hui (
She said Gao, who also acts as the convener of the Central Review Committee, should ask the party headquarters for a period of leave in order to avoid a conflict of interest and that the party caucus' Discipline Committee should then propose an investigation to the party headquarters' Central Review Committee.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
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