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
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man