Former Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) yesterday presented a copy of a non-prosecution ruling over his alleged involvement in treason in 2014 as he officially launched his bid to join the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) primary for the Taipei mayoral election.
Accompanied by people dressed as Marvel Comics characters, Chang told a morning news conference in Taipei that he decided to run for mayor due to what he called Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) incompetence, arrogance and whimsical leadership style.
“More than three years into his term, Ko has yet to increase Taipei’s competitiveness. The city’s residents should not give him another four years to learn how to be a mayor at an enormous cost [to Taipei],” Chang said.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
To avoid having the 2014 case overshadow his electoral bid, Chang presented a copy of the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office’s February 2015 ruling, which says the office would not prosecute him for allegedly divulging “confidential” information.
In August 2014, Chang, who was serving as the council’s deputy minister in then-president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, was suspected by the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau of having been recruited by the Chinese Communist Party as a spy.
At the time, Ma compared the investigation into Chang with the effort of “a woodpecker trying to find a destructive worm.”
“The non-prosecution ruling clearly states that there was no concrete evidence... Some people have asked me why I did not reveal everything at the time. I told them that it was because cross-strait relations are extremely intricate and I did not want to jeopardize them for my own sake,” Chang said.
The ruling also found that he accomplished all cross-strait missions entrusted to him by superiors and that he helped further national interests without causing any damage, he said.
Asked whether he believed Ma owes him an apology, Chang said he was grateful to the former president for giving him a chance to serve the public.
Separately yesterday, the KMT Central Standing Committee passed the nomination of KMT Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) as the party’s Taichung mayoral candidate in the nine-in-one elections scheduled for Nov. 24.
Lu was the 11th candidate the KMT has nominated after picking nine for county commissioner races: KMT Legislator Wang Hui-mei (王惠美) for Changhua County, former Hsinchu mayor Hsu Ming-tsai (許明財) for Hsinchu County, KMT Legislator Chang Li-shan (張麗善) for Yunlin County, Luodong Township (羅東) Mayor Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) for Yilan County, Taitung County Council Speaker Rao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴) for Taitung and KMT Legislator Hsu Chen-wei (徐榛蔚) for Hualien County, as well as KMT Immigrant Affairs Committee chairman Hsieh Li-kung (謝立功) for Keelung mayor.
Incumbents who have secured the party’s nomination are Miaoli County Commissioner Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌), Nantou County Commissioner Lin Ming-chen (林明溱) and Lienchiang County Commissioner Liu Tseng-ying (劉增應).
Regarding the six special municipalities, KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said there was no timetable for nominations.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
RSS