A spat between Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) and former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) office entered day three yesterday after Tsai criticized Ma for comments about the 228 Incident.
Responding to calls to punish those responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people during the White Terror era following the 228 Incident, Ma on Monday said at an event marking the 70th anniversary of the Incident that because Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) was president at the time, he “should naturally be held accountable.”
The extent of Chiang’s responsibility was up to people to determine for themselves by studying public information, Ma said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Tsai on Monday said that Ma is not in a position to assign responsibility for the 228 Incident, because he enjoyed “eight years of wealth and rank.”
“Ma’s small disciples” should be reminded that then-governor-general Chen Yi (陳儀), who ordered police and military action against protesters during the 288 Incident, was less corrupt than Ma, Tsai said, without saying who the “disciples” were.
Ma office spokeswoman Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) on Thursday said Tsai was not as righteous as his comments made him appear to be, citing a ruling that found Tsai had taken shares from Central Motion Picture Corp and registered them in his own name.
Tsai lost an appeal to overturn the ruling and in May last year was ordered to pay the corporation NT$170 million (US$5.48 million).
“If you want to talk about who is most harmful to the KMT, nobody can compete with Alex Tsai,” Hsu said.
She said Tsai was harming camaraderie among party members by making unsubstantiated attacks on former party chairpersons.
“Could it be that party headquarters is going to let its officials continue to run amok?” Hsu asked, adding that if KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) continues to indulge Tsai, it would be detrimental to the party caucus and negatively affect preparations for the May 20 party chairperson election.
Tsai said he is open to discuss his dealings with Central Motion Picture.
“However, you [Hsu] have to remember that at the end of the war, the one who would be most injured would not be Alex Tsai, but ‘he who is the greatest’ in your heart,” Tsai said, an apparent reference to Ma.
Tsai said that he was going to write a memoir about the Central Motion Picture case when he was much older, as well as a story about Somali pirates, “because both incidents involve ‘the greatest,’ but if you [Hsu] want to extend the war to infinity, I am ready,” Tsai said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
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UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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