Two Taipei mayoral hopefuls have united to assemble a voluntary legal team in preparation for potential legal battles against former Taipei EasyCard Co chairman Sean Lien (連勝文).
Lien, who is a son of former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) and the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Taipei mayoral hopeful, boasted a strong legal team as part of his campaign office.
Independent candidate Neil Peng (馮光遠), an award-winning screenplay writer, and lawyer Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who is vying for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) nomination, announced the establishment of what they called the “submarine legal team” of almost 30 lawyers yesterday.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The team’s name, submarine, was in response to Lien calling his legal team his campaign’s “aircraft carrier.”
Lien was quoted as saying that the team would file defamation lawsuits against anyone, including the media, who makes false allegations about his wealth, background and character.
“Our team will defend people who are sued by Lien during the election campaign, so that freedom of speech can be protected,” Peng told a press conference at Jiancheng Circle (建成圓環) market of Datong District (大同), also the location for Lien’s bid announcement on Monday.
Peng and Koo, who will serve as the leader of the team, noted that Lien’s threat of a legal war could violate human rights principles.
Lien is obligated to be scrutinized by the public now that he has officially thrown his hat in the ring, Koo said.
He added that the massive wealth that the Lien family had accumulated despite his father and grandfather’s occupations as public servants was “a public affairs issue rather than a personal issue.”
Sean Lien’s spokesperson, Chin Hui-yuan (秦蕙媛), said he would accept criticism and would only take legal action if an allegation was groundless and seen as “character assassination.”
Meanwhile, Taipei mayoral aspirant Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that a Chinese university had canceled an invitation for him to speak there.
Ko, a National Taiwan University Hospital surgeon who has expressed his desire to run for the capital’s top post, said that he was invited by Xiamen University’s Taiwan Research Institute to give a speech at the university today and to attend a forum.
However, Ko said he received an e-mail from the institute on Feb. 8 in which his invitation was rescinded. Ko said he was unaware of the reason.
The DPP has listed five potential nominees — former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), Koo, lawmakers Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) and Pasuya Yao (姚文智), and Taipei Council Deputy Speaker Chou Po-ya (周柏雅) for the mayoral election.
Opinion polls since late last year have shown that Ko, who has yet to decide whether to join the DPP, is the front-runner among possible non-KMT candidates.
Additional reporting by CNA
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS