Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yu Tien (余天) yesterday apologized to Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) by telephone after he was caught on camera describing Hu's wife as “not clear in the head.”
Yu was caught saying that the incumbent mayor should spend more time at home to take care of himself and his wife, Shirley Shaw (邵曉鈴), who lost her left arm in a Nov. 18, 2006, car accident that also left her in a coma for a period of time.
Yu was addressing dozens of party supporters at an election event for Taichung City Council candidates. The comments were caught on video by a reporter from the Chinese-language United Daily News.
On the tape, Yu is heard saying that he was close friends with Hu and his wife and then talks about how the mayor should spend more time with Shaw, who “only has a hand and is not clear in the head” as a result of helping him in his political career.
“Hu has had a stroke and stumbles when he walks. As a friend, I think it’s really sad and I can’t bear to [watch],” Yu said. “I really don’t think he wants to be in this election.”
The comments, made just two months ahead of the special municipality elections, drew strong criticism from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, as well as DPP officials.
“The remarks are inappropriate ,and I hope he will apologize immediately. Hu’s health issues should never be a topic in the election,” DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said in a statement read by DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁).
Tsai’s condemnation was also conveyed to other DPP lawmakers, who were asked to avoid making further personal attacks on KMT politicians, Wu said.
In a phone call to Hu, Yu said he was sorry for making the comments, adding that they were not intended as a personal attack.
He said he was trying to tell the crowd how difficult it must be for Hu to make a re-election bid under such circumstances.
Hu accepted the apology and dismissed the gaffe as an example of DPP lawmakers “using the wrong words,” local media reports said.
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
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
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
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
RSS