Hualien independent legislative by-election candidate Shih Sheng-lang (施勝郎) yesterday filed a slander suit against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) over the latter’s remarks that he was a “hooligan.”
Accompanied by a horde of supporters at the Hualien District Court, Shih also accused King of obstructing the by-election.
On Tuesday when campaigning for KMT nominee Wang Ting-sheng (王廷升), King, aside from criticizing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Hualien legislative by-election candidate Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), also attacked Shih, saying that the candidate supported by independent Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) “was a hooligan who did time on Green Island (綠島) for four years.”
“When something has to do with himself, King said ‘who doesn’t have past?’ But when it comes to something to do with others, he keeps on digging into past sore points,” Shih said. “So, tell me, who’s more of a hooligan?”
At a separate setting yesterday when asked for a response, King declined to comment, saying that the matter was now being handled by judiciary.
Meanwhile, the KMT yesterday continued its attack on Hsiao, accusing her of being a “tourist” to Hualien.
KMT spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) yesterday visited Taoyuan County to campaign for KMT candidate Apollo Chen (陳學聖), and condemned the DPP for “wrongly accusing Chen of being a ‘parachute’ candidate” in Taoyuan and having few connections in the county.
“Chen is a native Taoyuan citizen. The beautiful tourist [Hsiao], on the other hand, was portrayed as a native from Hualien County,” he said.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) last night canvassed the streets in Chaiyi County with KMT candidate Lin De-rui (林德瑞). He is expected to spend much of today — the eve of the by-election — in Taoyuan County. He is also to visit Hsinchu County today to campaign for KMT candidate Cheng Yung-tang (鄭永堂).
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C