Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien’s (連勝文) campaign office yesterday rebutted corruption allegations from independent candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Ko’s campaign spokesperson Billy Pan (潘建志), saying that the accusations are based on false information.
“While Pan said that Sean Lien’s grandfather, Lien Chen-tung (連震東), was impeached by the Control Yuan due to [his role in] a development project while serving as minister of the interior [in 1959], the fact is that Lien Chen-tung was the minister of the interior from 1960 to 1966, and he was not the minister in 1959,” Sean Lien’s campaign spokesperson Yu Shu-hui (游淑惠) said in a statement yesterday. “When criticizing a person, Pan should at least get the historical facts right.”
Yu’s remarks came in response to allegations made by Pan that Lien Chen-tung had been impeached by the Control Yuan for land speculation in a development project, and that although Lien Chen-tung later appealed the case to the Public Functionary Disciplinary Sanction Commission, the appeal was rejected.
Yu said Pan’s statement was not true.
She said Lien Chen-tung was impeached for passing a set of regulations on applications for development projects concerning landfill sites in 1958, when he was head of the Taiwan Provincial Government’s Civil Affairs Office.
Lien Cheng-tung later appealed to the disciplinary commission, which decided to refer the case to prosecutors in December 1960.
However, after a probe, prosecutors decided not to press charges against him, Yu said.
Yu added that after the incident, Lien Chen-tung was promoted to higher positions and worked under former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) as a minister without portfolio and presidential advisor, “and he was even officially honored by Chiang for his excellent performance.”
“I wonder if Pan is hinting that Chiang has picked the wrong person, or insulting the people of Taiwan, as most of people hold a positive view on and remember the contributions that Chiang made to Taiwan.” Yu said.
Yu added that Pan’s remarks were actually a slap on Ko’s face, since Ko has previously praised Chiang for imposing strict regulations on dealings between politicians and businesses, and that Chiang’s era “should be a model for Taiwan’s politics.”
Ko yesterday declined to make further comments.
“Chiang has been dead for 27 years already and I think that the public would have their own judgement on many things,” Ko said. “So let’s just forget about it; I would leave it to the public to discuss.”
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