The campaign teams of candidates for Taipei mayor yesterday exchanged heated words over an allegation that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Sean Lien (連勝文) had revealed his intention to run for mayor to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) when he and his father, former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), visited China in February last year.
Independent candidate Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) spokesperson Billy Pan (潘建志) said on a political talk show on Tuesday night that Sean Lien had told Xi about his plans to run for Taipei mayor when he met Xi during the trip to China with his father.
Chen Hsiao-ching (陳曉卿), spokesperson for Sean Lien’s campaign, demanded an apology from Ko’s office if Pan fails to provide evidence to back up his allegation.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Sean Lien said his opponent’s spokesperson and “cyberarmy” have been bad-mouthing him since the beginning of the campaign, and that he considers it extremely unwise and an indication of the quality of their leader.
When asked whether he did tell Xi about his intentions, Sean Lien said: “You would know if you had watched the tape.”
Pan yesterday said that his remarks were “not without basis.”
He showed reporters a video clip on his smartphone of a news report by TVBS about the Liens’ meeting with Xi.
In the footage, Sean Lien was seen shaking hands with Xi, while the reporter said that Xi proclaimed his amazement at Sean Lien’s height and asked whether he was preparing to enter the race for Taipei mayor.
“[Sean Lien] should have sued TVBS if the report was untrue. Why wait until now to take legal action [against me]?” Pan asked.
Pan later posted other news reports of the meeting on Facebook.
The Mirror, a political commentary magazine published in Hong Kong, quoted Xi as asking Sean Lien: “You’re running for Taipei mayor?”
Lien Chan, “without hesitation,” answered: “Yes,” for his son, the magazine said.
Ko said he did not watch Pan on Tuesday’s night’s show, but said that it was a fact that Lien Chan visited Xi again in February this year before Sean Lien announced his decision to enter the race later that month.
“I was quite [surprised] by the audacity,” Ko said, adding that it was “politically senseless.”
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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