President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday denied meeting privately with bookie Chen Ying-chu (陳盈助) in Chiayi in September, slamming Next Magazine for carrying the story and accusing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of spreading the allegations without evidence.
In an interview with ETTV, Ma defended his integrity and said he did not meet with Chen on Sept. 10 during a campaign visit to Chiayi.
“The magazine made a false accusation and the DPP jumped on the bandwagon to spread the rumors. This is a vicious culture,” he said.
Allegations of a meeting between Ma and Chen were made on Wednesday when an article in Next Magazine said that the president had held a private meeting with Chen in which he asked for a donation of NT$300 million (US$9.9 million).
The Presidential Office, Ma’s re-election campaign office and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) have all denied the allegations. On Thursday, the KMT threatened to take legal action against the magazine.
Amid the allegations and a neck-and-neck race with DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Ma yesterday said he remained confident about his re-election bid even with People First Party Chairman James Soong’s (宋楚瑜) participation in the presidential election.
“I still believe that I will be re-elected even if Chairman Soong refuses to withdraw from the race … The differences between Chairperson Tsai and myself are pretty obvious, and I believe the people will choose me in the election,” he said.
The possibility of signing a peace agreement with China, Ma added, is a point of consideration because the issue will inevitably arise in the next decade, and as president, he should not avoid addressing the topic and must present a long-term plan to maintain peace and prosperity.
“I care about Taiwan’s peace and the lives of the people, their economic situation. I do not just care about my turnout in the election,” he added.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
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