The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday delayed proposing a possible amendment of anti-corruption regulations that would prevent party Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) from running in next year's presidential election, should he be indicted over his alleged mishandling of a public fund.
It is widely expected that the party's Central Standing Committee will relax anti-corruption regulations that suspend membership if a person is indicted for a crime, to allow Ma to run in the presidential election if indicted. However, committee members yesterday said no actions should be taken until the outcome of the investigation is announced.
The KMT's "black gold exclusion clause," which originally suspended membership only if a person was found guilty of a crime by a court, was modified under Ma's chairmanship to suspend any member indicted for a crime. The goal of the change was to improving the party's image.
The latest issue of Next magazine said that the investigation into Ma's alleged misuse of his mayoral allowance during his eight-year term as Taipei mayor would be soon be completed.
The magazine said that the prosecutors would indict Ma before the Lunar New Year holiday.
Amendment
Although KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) has vowed to propose an amendment to the "black gold exclusion clause," no action has been taken. Other committee members have either opposed amending the clause or suggested that the issue should be discussed by more party members.
Meanwhile, Ma announced yesterday that the party would no longer use funds generated by the liquidation of party assets to pay for election expenses. These expenses would have to be paid for using funds raised for the purpose, he said.
Proceeds from asset sales would instead be used to pay staff salaries and contribute to retirement funds, Ma said.
Central Standing Committee member Lee Chuan-chiao (李全教) said the chairman's comments amounted to a significant change of policy that should have been announced well ahead of the year-end legislative election to give party members time to raise funds.
`Blindsided'
Although Ma has said on numerous occasions that once the issue of the party's assets has been resolved, election funds should be collected through fundraising activities, the party has yet to flesh out the details of the new policy. As a result Lee, who is also a legislator, said he felt that he had been "blindsided" by Ma's announcement.
KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (
Information had been passed on to the effect that party fundraising would in future be overseen by KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (
Wu said that the KMT still employees some 1,005 people and had a long way to go in its efforts to whittle its workforce down to 600 employees.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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