The recent controversy over alleged links between criminal figures and politicians showed no signs of abating yesterday, as pan-blue and pan-green legislators continued to trade accusations over who had closer ties with a Nantou County convict.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) threw the first blow, telling a press conference that a number of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) figures had been close to Chiang Chin-liang (江欽良), a paroled former gangster from central Taiwan.
Chang showed reporters four pictures that showed DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), former DPP legislators Lin Yun-sheng (林耘生) and Tang Huo-shen (湯火聖), former Nantou County commissioner Lin Tsung-nan (林宗男) and former Tsaotun Township chief Hung Tun-jen (洪敦仁) accompanying Chiang.
PHOTO: CNA
Chang said one of the pictures was taken at the inauguration of a night market in central Taiwan on Sept. 16, 2002, with Chiang and Lin Tsung-nan designated VIPs at the event, which Chang said Hung, Tsai and Tang also attended.
Another picture was from 2004 and showed Chiang holding a campaign meeting for Lin Yun-sheng when he was running for the legislature, Chang said.
Chang’s move came after DPP Nantou County commissioner candidate Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) last week accused Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) of having close ties to Chiang.
Local media showed images of Wu and his wife vacationing in Bali, Indonesia, with Nantou County Commissioner Lee Chao-ching (李朝卿) and Chiang.
Wu on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Lee for alleging that Wu arranged gravel business contracts during the trip.
In response to Chang’s allegation, DPP Legislator William Lai (賴清德) yesterday accused the KMT of trying to shift the focus away from the premier.
Lai said that if Chang’s allegation were true, then Lee’s allegation could also be true because Chiang, Lee and Wu’s wife were also caught on camera as they attended an inaugural ceremony of a night market in Nantou.
“If the KMT’s allegations make any sense, then it’s just as correct to say Wu Den-yih, Lee Chao-ching and Chiang Chin-liang toured Bali together to make secret deals,” Lai said.
Meanwhile, the DPP’s Central Standing Committee (CSC) yesterday ruled unanimously to recommend the Central Disciplinary Committee expel the DPP’s Caotun Township (草屯) office head, Huang Wen-chun (黃文君), for making false allegations against Lee Wen-chung. Huang told a press conference on Saturday that Lee Wen-chung turned against Chiang after trying but failing to garner Chiang’s support.
DPP Spokesman Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said Huang’s action had harmed the party and a decision on her expulsion would be made at the next Central Disciplinary Committee meeting on Nov. 26. Huang will also be invited to make her case, he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JENNY W. HSU
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires