The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Evaluation and Discipline Committee last night approved a suggestion by the party’s Integrity Committee to immediately suspend the party membership of Taitung County Commissioner Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞).
Juan Kang-meng (阮剛猛), head of the KMT’s Evaluation and Discipline Committee, said the evaluation committee would now discuss how long Kuang’s membership should be suspended for.
The Integrity Committee suggested last night that the KMT should suspend Kuang’s membership after over three hours of discussions.
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
“[Kuang’s incident] has attracted a lot of attention in society and seriously damaged the KMT’s reputation ... The committee suggested that Kuang’s membership should be suspended,” Chang told reporters last night after the meeting at the KMT headquarters.
Kuang, who drew widespread criticism for failing to cancel a 13-day trip to Europe ahead of Typhoon Fung-wong, bowed again in apology to her constituents after facing the KMT Integrity Committee yesterday over the nature of her trip.
Seeking to gain a better understanding about Kuang’s trip, the Integrity Committee moved its regular meeting from Aug. 19 to yesterday.
Kuang arrived at KMT headquarters at about 6:30pm, but remained tight-lipped as she was swamped by reporters.
After spending more than two hours explaining her trip to the committee, Kuang bowed twice to apologize and asked that the public give her another chance during the remainder of her term.
“I apologize again for causing negative reactions and damaging the KMT’s reputation ... I will cooperate 100 percent with the investigations,” she said last night at KMT headquarters.
“I hope the public will give me a second chance. I will spare no effort to finish my term and fight for the best interests of Taitung,” she said.
Kuang was named an interested party on Tuesday after being questioned by Taitung prosecutors amid accusations that she had wasted more than NT$10 million (US$325,000) in public funds on eight overseas trips since she assumed her position in 2006.
Kuang denied that taking 10 township heads on the 13-day European tour was designed to secure their support in next year’s local government elections.
The Taitung County Government’s budget for government staffer inspection trips abroad had been decreasing since she assumed office, Kuang said.
Earlier yesterday, Kuang surprised many by showing up at the county government office after Taitung County Government Secretary-General Wu You-chin (吳有進) had earlier told reporters that the commissioner had called in to ask for leave.
Kuang declined to answer questions from the media as she headed for her office.
She later held an extraordinary meeting with senior officials at the county government before flying to Taipei.
KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) declined to comment on the controversy surrounding Kuang yesterday when approached by reporters.
However, Wu said earlier this week that Kuang should cancel her trip to the Beijing Olympics and other planned trips.
“The most important thing is how the public feels ... As far as I know, she will not leave the country again before the end of the year,” he said.
Asked if she was worried about her chances of being re-elected next year, Kuang said she fully respected the choice of Taitung residents.
The KMT’s Integrity Committee has no authority to investigate possible abuses of power or corruption.
Juan said yesterday that the Integrity Committee was an independent body formed to look into the behavior of members.
According to KMT party regulations, a party member is subject to disciplinary action from the party if convicted of a crime.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal filed by former Air Force officer Shih Chun-cheng (史濬程), convicted of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage, finalizing his sentence at two years and two months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法). His other ruling, a ten-month sentence for an additional contravention, was meanwhile overturned and sent to the Taichung branch of the High Court for retrial, the Supreme Court said today. Prosecutors have been notified as Shih is considered a flight risk. Shih was recruited by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence officials after his retirement in 2008 and appointed as a supervisor