A controversial bookmaker, who was alleged to have had a meeting with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in September, placed front-page ads in four major Chinese-language newspapers yesterday, saying he never made political donations to anyone.
In the ads, Chen Ying-chu (陳盈助) placed two short messages, saying he had never made political donations and urging the media to stop implicating him in political affairs.
Next Magazine in its Nov. 16 edition claimed that the Chiayi-based bookmaker met with Ma, who is seeking re-election in January, in an encounter arranged by Chiayi Mayor Huang Ming-hui (黃敏惠) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), to discuss campaign affairs.
While Ma has denied the Next Magazine report, he admitted having met Chen previously in 2008 and in 2009.
Chen’s name has remained in the news in recent days, after KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) said on a TV political talk show on Wednesday that Chen had helped to arrange a trip to the Philippines by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in June and had also treated several DPP members to free trips.
The DPP and KMT have been accusing each other over political connections with Chen in the past week, with the opposition party accusing the president of associating with a bookmaker and then filing lawsuits against Chiu for defamation.
DPP Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) said in the Legislative Yuan yesterday that he did not ask Chen Ying-chu to help arrange Tsai’s Manila visit.
Chen Ming-wen, who served as Chiayi County commissioner from 2001 to 2009, nonetheless admitted that Chen Ying-chu was a business associate who worked assiduously to put his mafia image to rest by doing charity work and helping the needy.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai