A Taipei city councilor candidate yesterday accused Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) of bribing her KMT colleagues to revise the Accounting Act (會計法) and of tax evasion.
Lo denied the charges, saying she was not a lawmaker at the time.
“We have received reports from a member of the Taipei Certified Public Accountants’ Association that when Lo served as the public relations director of the association in 2007 and president of the National Federation of Certified Public Accountants, Lo gave NT$250,000 [US$6,574] per month to select lawmakers in the Finance Committee to sponsor salaries for their aides and to facilitate the revision of the Accounting Act,” Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Taipei city councilor candidate Chien Sheng-che (簡聖哲) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
“Many of the lawmakers are KMT heavyweights who are still in the legislature; it may be the end of their political career if I publicize the list.”
Besides illegal lobbying, Chien said the reports he received also accuse Lo of using a false diploma and of illegally using public funds to pay for overseas trips for reporters.
Chien said his allegations are based on hard evidence, and challenged Lo to sue him for defamation if she thinks what he said was false.
“I will give the court everything I have. Let’s just meet in court,” Chien said.
Another TSU city councilor candidate, Hsieh Chien-ping (謝建平), said that Lo may rebut the accusations, but it would not mean she is clean.
“A couple of weeks back, we accused her of taking NT$200,000 per month from a private business, and serving on its board of directors to solve problems that the business may encounter,” Hsieh said.
“Lo said the accusations were groundless, but she still resigned as a member of the board,” Hsieh said.
Dismissing the allegations, Lo said she was not a legislator when the Accounting Act was revised.
“I had no power, and it took more than one person to revise the law,” Lo said.
“Actually, TSU Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉), who was a legislator at the time, also supported the revisions,” Lo said.
She added that there was nothing illegal for a non-governmental organization to give political donations to lawmakers.
“If you think I’ve done anything illegal, go ahead and forward whatever you have to prosecutors,” Lo said.
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS