A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker yesterday accused three of the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) presidential hopefuls of bribing their way onto TV news.
"Apart from Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), the other three DPP aspirants have gone to the expense of having their stories reported on TV," KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) told a press conference, without providing any evidence.
Ting was referring to Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun.
Ting's accusations were based on a report in yesterday's Chinese-language United Daily News which quoted a Formosa TV (FTV) manager as saying that DPP hopefuls had asked that more stories about them be shown while they were buying commercial air time.
Ting called on the National Communications Commission to investigate, while spokesmen for the trio rebutted the accusations.
DPP caucus whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) urged KMT lawmakers to provide evidence when making accusations instead of spreading vicious rumors.
Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) demanded the DPP stop its lawmakers from presenting TV or radio news shows.
Wu said that DPP legislators Wang Shu-hui (王淑慧) and Huang Chien-huei (黃劍輝) chaired weekly news programs on FTV, while Legislator Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓) presented a news program on a Taichung-based radio station.
"Their behavior contradicts what the DPP says about parties and politicians keeping out of the media," Wu said.
In response, Wang said she was a panelist on the FTV news program rather than its moderator.
"The program is actually a forum aimed at informing the public of what is going on in the legislature during the week. Dozens of DPP lawmakers take turns as panelists," Wang said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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