Campaigners yesterday accused Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman and presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) of benefiting a corporation owned by his father-in-law through revisions to the Taoyuan Aerotropolis project approved during his tenure as vice premier.
“Our suspicion is that [Chu] used his authority to unnecessarily expand the project in order to turn a piece of wasteland owned by his family into prime real estate that would be coveted by developers,” independent Taoyuan legislative candidate Wang Pao-hsuan (王寶萱) said at a rally in front of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) headquarters in Taipei.
Wang, who has long campaigned against the project, was accompanied by several members of the Taoyuan Aerotropolis Anti-Eviction Alliance and Taoyuan MRT A7 Station Self-Help Organization.
Photo: CNA
The Aerotropolis project’s original plans called mostly for the use of public land, with some private land needed for the construction of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s third runway, Wang said.
Plans to expand the scope of the project to include private land surrounding a nearby free-trade zone were approved by the Construction and Planning Agency during Chu’s tenure as vice premier, she said.
Chu served two terms as Taoyuan commissioner before being appointed vice premier in 2009. He has been the mayor of New Taipei City since 2010.
Wang displayed a zoning map showing that a “finger” of land extending away from the original free-trade zone was included in expansion plans, saying that the tip of the finger included property owned by Everterminal Co.
The corporation is owned by Chu’s father-in-law, Kao Yu-jen (高育仁), and Chu might have used his influence as vice premier to ensure the corporation’s land was included in expansion plans, she said.
“While the original value of the land was extremely low, if it is included in the expansion plans, Aerotropolis landowners would be compensated with land in the most valuable residential and business districts where the MRT is being constructed,” she said, adding that Chu might have sought to illegally profit from his father-in-law’s firm.
The expansion plans, which would triple the size of the free-trade zone, made little economic sense because of the zone’s poor performance over the past 19 years, which has led to the development of less than half of the existing zone, she said.
Wang said she has almost concluded talks on joining the Green-Social Democratic Party Alliance, with an official announcement possible within the next few days.
She ruled out joining forces with the New Power Party (NPP) because of its close relationship with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), adding that local DPP politicians had expressed support for the project and she was unwilling to “integrate” with DPP candidate Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) as required under NPP policy.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of