Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) brother-in-law yesterday defended his family’s gravel business, saying that many reports about his father were “fake news” designed to defame him.
“The seriously erroneous and false reports have defamed my father and I would like to urge President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to help put an end to such fake news, as she has vowed to fight disinformation nationwide,” Yunlin County Councilor Lee Ming-che (李明哲) told a news conference in the county.
Some media outlets have deliberately portrayed his father, Lee Jih-kuei (李日貴), who was a Yunlin County councilor between 1991 and 2003, as “an overbearing man who abused government power,” Lee Ming-che said.
New Power Party Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) on Friday last week said that Datong Gravel Co, owned by Lee Jih-kuei, allegedly obtained control of more than 1 hectare of public land near the Jhuoshui River (濁水溪) in 2000 after then-legislator Han, now the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, lobbied for NT$6.8 million (US$222,892 at the current exchange rate) to build an embankment that helped “fence off” of area used for the family’s gravel excavation operations.
On Sunday, local media reported that Yunlin County Council’s meeting minutes in 1992 showed that Lee Jih-kuei said at a question-and-answer session that “my Mainlander son-in-law [Han] decided to run for legislator after watching for two months the way I am making money.”
Certain media outlets interpreted the remarks as meaning that Han had aimed to become legislator after seeing the way that Lee had abused his power to make money, Lee Ming-che said.
In reality, Lee Jih-kuei meant that Han wanted to be a legislator to resolve problems in the gravel industry, he said.
To prove his point, Lee Ming-che provided copies of more meeting minutes from the session, which showed Lee Jih-kuei rejecting allegations that he was running a highly profitable gravel business with help from local authorities shortly before mentioning Han.
However, the minutes also quoted Lee Jih-kuei as criticizing, in vulgar terms, then-Changhua County commissioner Chou Ching-yu (周清玉) for banning all gravel excavation in the county.
Calling Chou a “crazy woman who randomly attacks people with a stick,” like a teacher who would “punish the entire class for one student’s mistake,” Lee Jih-kuei said that if he had been running his gravel business in Changhua, “I would catch that woman and take off her pants.”
Lee Ming-che read from prepared remarks and did not take any questions.
Asked about the news conference, Han said that the reports about Lee Jih-kuei’s gravel business has greatly disturbed the family.
“Lee Ming-che has explained everything very clearly, and I believe people will understand the frustration and sadness he is going through,” Han told reporters at a campaign event in Chiayi County.
Additional reporting by CNA
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
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
RSS