Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday called President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) “a dishonest, autocratic” president whose policies have resulted in “the breaking of diplomatic ties and is contravening the Constitution.”
Ma made the remarks while stumping for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative candidate Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀), who is running for the seat representing Taipei’s Neihu (內湖) and Nangang (南港) districts.
Tsai’s “requests” for the Legislative Yuan to pass the Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例) severely harmed the interests of the KMT, Ma said.
Photo: CNA
The act requires the KMT to declare its assets and provide proof that they were “legally” obtained, with assets that cannot be proved legal to be considered ill-gotten, Ma said, adding that unlike in court, the act is based on the premise that the party is guilty.
“This goes against the concept of constitutionalism,” Ma said.
Since being sworn into office in May 2016, Tsai has seen the loss of seven diplomatic allies, he said.
“Tsai continues to claim that to vote for her [re-election], to vote for the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP], is to protect Taiwan’s sovereignty, but that is exactly the opposite,” Ma said.
The DPP and the Tsai administration have introduced many bills, but many were procedurally incorrect, he said.
Citing the anti-infiltration bill as an example, Ma said it was absurd that the Executive Yuan had not proposed its own version, but instead had the DPP caucus introduce one and sent it to a second reading without due discussion, which could be considered autocracy.
While Tsai claims that her doctoral dissertation from the London School of Economics and Political Science was problem-free, it stands to reason that her dissertation failed to meet the university’s standards of being archived at three libraries, he said.
Tsai has said that she obtained her doctoral degree from the university in 1984.
However, the university requires all doctoral graduates, upon receiving their degrees, to join its alumni association, but Tsai’s name does not appear in association’s records for 1983 or 1984, Ma said.
Ma clarified that he is not saying Tsai did not receive her doctorate, but said that he was starting to have doubts, as she has not dispelled the questions.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
RSS