The Alliance Against the Legalization of Gambling yesterday protested in front of the Agency Against Corruption following the results of a referendum last weekend which favored the construction of a casino resort on Matsu and said the agency must investigate the possibility of vote-buying during the referendum campaign.
The alliance’s executive director Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳), accused Weidner Resorts Taiwan — the developer behind a planned casino resort on the island — and Lienchiang County Government of deceiving residents by making unrealistic promises, such as promising monthly subsidies of NT$80,000 for Matsu residents, saying the promises were tantamount to vote-buying.
Ho said Lienchiang County Commissioner Yang Sui-sheng (楊綏生) published several articles in local newspapers to promote the casino proposal before the referendum took place and he even used public funds to buy ad space in newspapers which were designed to promote the proposal, which Ho said violated the administrative neutrality principle.
Photo: Chang Wen-chuan, Taipei Times
Ho also said Yang used the Matsu Daily, a mouthpiece of the county government, to promote the alleged advantages of the establishment of casino resorts and to influence the residents’ decision.
Ho described the popular poll as a “cheating referendum.” The alliance delivered a letter of complaint to the agency, urging it to launch an investigation.
Ho added the alliance would also file a suit with the Central Election Committee requesting that the referendum be nullified
Residents of Matsu on Saturday voted in favor of the construction of casino resorts on the outlying islands. Fifty-six percent voted in favor of the initiative, while 42 percent opposed it.
The groups said they planned to launch another referendum in three years to keep the gambling industry out of Matsu.
“In fact, the result of the referendum was not surprising,” said Buddhist Master Shih Chao-hui (釋昭慧), convener of the Alliance Against the Legalization of Gambling.
“If not for the effort of the alliance to raise anti-gambling awareness on the islands, the opposition would have secured less than 20 percent of the total votes,” she said.
The referendum and the project are not only meaningful to the residents of Matsu, but also to people in other parts of Taiwan, the master added.
If a casino resort is allowed to be established in Matsu, more casinos would be built in other regions in the country in the future, she said, adding that is why the alliance is planning to stage an anti-gambling referendum in three years.
The Referendum Act (公民投票法) stipulates that, whether a referendum proposal is adopted or vetoed, no more proposals may be raised on the same matter within three years.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
RSS