Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jennifer Wang (王如玄) yesterday moved out of a government dormitory in Taipei City’s Daan District (大安), in an attempt to put an end to controversy concerning her real-estate dealings.
Wang addressed reporters waiting outside the dorm on Hangzhou S Road Sec 2, where she and her husband have been living since 2005.
“I have delivered on my promise to move out of the faculty dormitory within 10 days. I have lived here for a long time and have forged close emotional bonds with the building’s security officers,” Wang said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Asked whether she felt she was being coerced to leave the dormitory, Wang said she was someone who lived in the present and was willing to subject herself to the highest moral standards.
Wang’s relocation came just four days after she pledged to move out of the dorm amid controversy surrounding herself and her husband, Judicial Yuan Department of Government Ethics Director Huang Tung-hsun (黃東焄).
The couple has been criticized for living in a dorm listed as a Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office unit that allegedly costs NT$2,000 per month to rent, while owning at least one military apartment.
The legitimacy of their residency was questioned by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康), who said that Huang owns a house in New Taipei City, which should have made him ineligible to apply for the ministry dorm.
Tuan has also accused Wang of having engaged in speculative sales of several military apartments, which were subsidized and converted by the government from old housing for military dependents for the sole purpose of improving their living conditions and providing housing.
Wang said her husband supported her decision to leave the dorm because of her vice presidential bid.
The residence is to be returned to the ministry when they vacate the property, Wang said, adding that they would relocate to a 22-year-old apartment in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) that they have rented.
Dismissing Tuan’s allegations that there are more military housing units involved in her dealings, Wang said she welcomed all those suspecting her of wrongdoing to submit any evidence they have to the authorities.
“Presidential elections should focus on policy debates... but my faculty dormitory and purchases of military apartments have sparked too many disputes and quarrels that have dragged on for too long,” Wang said.
“I would like to express my sincerest apology for the chaos I have caused,” she said.
KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) said that he respected Wang’s decision to relocate, but added that it was not the result of KMT intervention.
“I think the decision made by Wang and her husband is a good one,” Chu said.
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
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS