The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文) of vote-buying via flight tickets and “walking fees,” urging prosecutors to investigate.
“A KMT supporters’ club in China said that, for Taiwanese voters in China who back the KMT in the nine-in-one elections, they would help buy round-trip flights to Taiwan that cost 4,000 yuan (US$653) for the discounted price of 1,400 yuan each,” DPP spokesperson Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) said.
“It is a violation of the law set by the Ministry of Justice which prohibited anyone providing voters with transportation expenses from their location of residence to poll stations; are prosecutors trying to ignore it?” Huang said.
Huang, who is also a lawyer, added that, according to a ban imposed by the ministry in 2009, providing transportation or travel expenses to voters constitutes “vote-buying.”
In addition, Huang said the Chinese Production Party (CPP) paid NT$1,000 each to people who attended a pro-Lien rally that it organized last week.
According to the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), a worker at the event surnamed Liu (劉) was seen handing out cash to participants who had signed up in advance.
Event host Lu Yuexiang (盧月香) said at the rally that, in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, she paid for Taiwanese residing in China to fly back to vote, as long as they voted for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Huang said.
“These clearly violate the ministry’s rule and the Election and Recall Act for Public Servants [公職人員選舉罷免法],” Huang said. “I hereby call on prosecutors to investigate.”
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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