Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday rejected a claim that he was involved in a sexual transaction in China a few years ago.
Political commentator Yang Hsien-hung (楊憲宏) said at a political talk show on Monday that Ko had bragged to former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) that during a visit to China someone had offered him a booklet filled with photographs of prostitutes and told him that if he wrote his hotel room number next to the photograph of the woman of his choosing, she would go to his room.
Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), was also present at the dinner in Lu’s home, reprimanded Ko for his remarks and the two had an argument, Yang said.
Photo: Cheng Ming-hsiang, Taipei Times
Asked about the remarks, Ko said Yang was not in Lu’s home when they had dinner, adding that he could not understand what story he heard and from whom.
Ko said that he has refrained from criticizing Taipei mayoral candidates until now, but he is tired of numerous smear campaigns directed at him.
An opinion poll showed that about 20 percent of voters believed the rumor that he was involved in organ trafficking in China, he added.
“It is actually very easy to verify whether the rumors are true or not, but I am wondering why my opponents are so delighted to do it,” he said, adding that Yang’s claim was particularly “low-class.”
Chen on wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday evening that someone was trying to frame a man with an IQ of 157 — indicating Ko — of bragging about engaging in a sexual transaction in front of his wife of 22 years and other important political figures, but the person who made up the slanderous remark was not even at the scene and that the mudslinging tactic was not so clever.
Separately, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) yesterday criticized Ko for introducing the oBikes bike-sharing system to the city and causing traffic chaos with misplaced and abandoned bikes.
A large number of bikes had to be removed, due to poor management, Ting said.
He said he would ban the company from operating in the city if he is elected mayor.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Pasuya Yao (姚文智) also lashed out at Ko’s management of oBikes, which have allegedly caused National Taiwan University campus to be overrun with the shared bicycles.
When a new business model emerges in Taipei, policies should be formulated with vision to work out the best way for the city, Yao said at a campaign event.
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