Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said yesterday that an e-mail claiming he had set his mind on running for president next year had been sent by someone else.
Wang last week turned down Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's (
The e-mail, which was sent to KMT legislators under Wang's name on Monday, also requested Ma's admission of guilt in the corruption scandal.
Ma is standing trial on charges of wiring half of his monthly mayoral special allowance during his tenure as mayor of Taipei from 1998 until last year.
Ma said he would not drop out of the election, even if found guilty.
"The e-mail was not sent by me. Someone sent it as a means to divide the party. I have sent [KMT lawmakers] another e-mail to clarify the matter," Wang said.
KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (
"If it was sent by a party member, that individual will be expelled from the party," Wu said.
Meanwhile, responding to a call by KMT caucus members that he reconsider the proposal of pairing with Ma for the election, Wang asked KMT lawmakers to refrain from interfering in Ma's selection of a running mate.
Wang said his decision not to run on the Ma ticket was "a done deal" and that there was no need for more discussion on the subject.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (
Ma yesterday condemned the content of the e-mail, urging voters to disregard its message. Ma camp spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (
Referring to the e-mail as an election gimmick, Lo said Ma's campaign office regularly received anonymous e-mail. Police said most of the e-mail were sent via computer servers located in other countries, which made it difficult to trace the senders.
"We urge voters to stop resorting to such an awful measure and to disregard the rumors some of the messages might contain," Lo said in a written statement.
Chen Hsi-yang (陳熙揚), director of the Information and Technology Department at the legislature, said the e-mail had been sent from within the country via America Online. Chen said identifying the sender would be difficult as the latter could have registered to the service using false personal information.
The director said the department had installed a digital signature software into Wang's computer, which would allow recipients to verify the authenticity of e-mails sent by him.
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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